Digging Deeper
by FantomoDrako
Summary: Ryoga wanders upon a shrine, where something of his past is brought to light. What is it and what adventures will follow? R.5/IY cross.
1. What's Normal Anymore?

**A/N:** Hello to all fellow Ranma ½ fans! I bring you my own Ranma ½/InuYasha crossover. I have read quite a few on here and loved the idea of bringing these two works together! I hope I don't do anything too clichéd. I love originality and I always try to stick to ideas that are mine and mine alone. I hope you enjoy this fic!

(I haven't read all the manga for Ranma 1/2, so I'm going to pretend that anything to do with Saffron never happened, Akari has never met Ryoga etc. I'm only up to volume 25, but I'm going to say that the ageing mushrooms and the Cursed Tunnel of Lost Love happened. I have watched all the anime, however, so I will be using references from both. For InuYasha, I haven't read any of the manga for that, so it's all anime referenced. It carries on from the last episode: 167.)

**Disclaimer:** The only thing I own concerning any works belonging to Rumiko Takashi is the 3rd and 4th InuYasha movies on DVD, the first Ranma ½ movie on video and I'll own the first season of Ranma ½ on DVD very soon. Did I mention copyrights anywhere in that list?

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Chapter One: What's Normal Anymore?**

The noisy blaring of car horns ripped through the night air every now and then. A number of people were irritated by this, but one person heard nothing. It was all a dull, fuzzy background noise to him.

This young man was attracting quite a few stares from those he passed by. After all, it wasn't everyday you saw someone as travel-worn as him. He ignored the looks that were directed at him and the whispers that invariably followed.

Ryoga Hibiki was used to such reactions.

Ryoga, as usual, was wandering. He also, as usual, had no idea where he was. He didn't waste the energy it took to shout out his trademark question, however. He hadn't felt this drained in a long time. He was currently looking for somewhere to camp for the night; he didn't think he could find a hotel.

He walked on, the sensation of going uphill completely ignored. He came back to his senses in time to avoid crashing into a rather large tree that was right in front of him. Too tired to grumble about it, he fell to his knees and shrugged off his backpack. He sat there for a few minutes before slowly reaching out to unpack his tent. Just as his fingers found the pack's clasps, a soft voice interrupted him.

"Um, excuse me…?"

Ryoga blinked, wondering if he was hearing things due to fatigue. His eyes swung around, landing on a girl that looked about his age wearing some type of school uniform and carrying a bulging yellow bag.

The girl gave him a small, concerned frown. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" he sighed wearily. "I'm fine, just tired."

The girl eyed his large backpack. "You weren't going to sleep here, were you?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Uh…I was, yes. I'm sorry, I'll leave." He didn't want to, he was too tired to walk much further, but he wanted to argue less. The girl, however, looked aghast at this.

"What? No, don't leave, I didn't mean you should go! I just thought it was a little strange to find someone about to camp in my front yard, that's all."

Ryoga blinked again. "Front yard?" he asked, barely able to suppress a yawn. "Oops, sorry…"

The girl giggled. "That's okay. You look exhausted, why don't you come inside and spend the night? It'd be a lot more comfortable than out here," she asked, smiling at the strange boy.

"Really?" He was sincerely hoping this wasn't a dream but, for him, it was almost too good to be true.

"Of course! I'll have to ask my mum, but I'm sure she'll say yes. Come on," she said, walking towards a building he hadn't noticed before.

Almost desperate not to get lost at the moment, he quickly grabbed his pack and jogged after the girl.

"So," she said when he caught up, "what's your name? I'm Kagome Higurashi."

He gave her a tired smile. "Nice to meet you, Kagome. Name's Ryoga Hibiki."

She beamed at him before opening the door. "Hello?" she called. "I'm home and I brought a visitor!"

Ryoga saw a young boy poke his head into the hallway. The boy pouted a bit at seeing him. "Aww, I thought it was Inuyasha…" he mumbled, retreating.

'_Inuyasha? That's an unusual name…'_ he thought to himself.

"Don't worry about him, that's just my little brother, Sota. Come on, I have to find my mum." That said, she led him up the hallway and into the room Sota had come from which turned out to be the lounge room.

Ryoga was too tired to take in any details of the house besides the people in it. He saw Sota sitting in front of a rather podgy cat, a woman who could only have been Kagome's mother, and an old man. He could feel his eyelids threatening to droop and didn't know how much longer he could stay awake.

Kagome bounced over to her mother. "Hi mum! This is Ryoga Hibiki," she stated, pointing at the Lost Boy. "I found him about to camp under the God Tree. Is it okay if he stays here the night?"

Mrs. Higurashi looked at Ryoga with interest. "Camp in our yard? Oh no dear, I can't let you do that!" She gave him a wink. "Of course you can stay here! You'll have to sleep on the lounge though…Is that okay with you?"

Ryoga nodded sleepily.

Mrs. Higurashi frowned. _'This boy can't be much older than Kagome…I wonder what's happened to him? Poor thing looks ready to collapse!'_ She took in the appearance of their guest. _'Black hair, looks like it needs to be washed, a yellow and black bandanna that's at least keeping most of it out of his pretty brown-grey eyes, yellow shirt and black pants with cords tied around the calves…they look in need of a wash too. And a backpack about as big as Kagome's! Did he run away from home?'_ Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she told him to wait while she fetched some blankets for him to use.

Kagome was watching Ryoga with growing concern. After spending so much time in the Feudal Era in dangerous battles, she had become quite good at recognising and healing various things. _'He's absolutely exhausted! He looks like Inuyasha does when he pushes himself too much…Wonder what happened to push him into this state?'_ She did want to know, but knew it was none of her business.

Her grandfather was also keeping an eye on the youth. He had to make sure the boy wasn't a demon in disguise, after all. He wanted to make sure this Hibiki boy didn't try anything funny. He shambled off to get some sutras, just in case.

Just then, Kagome's mother came bustling back in, her arms full of blankets and a pillow. She set about turning the lounge into a temporary bed. It wasn't very wide, as lounges generally aren't, but it would do for the night. Her task finished, she turned to face Ryoga. "There you go. You can put your backpack down, dear." She watched as he complied, setting down his pack at the foot of the lounge. "Just don't roll too far, will you?" she joked, trying to get a smile out of him.

Ryoga barely heard that last line. The room seemed to be moving on him, which was odd because he knew he wasn't moving himself. Everything started to blur together into a hazy mess in front of his eyes. _'What the…?'_ he thought in dismay. _'I must be in worse shape than I thought…'_ That was the last thing he knew before complete darkness overtook him.

Kagome and her mother gasped. All of a sudden, Ryoga had swayed to one side before his knees buckled and he collapsed in a limp heap on the floor.

Kagome, from much practice, walked over and knelt beside him.

"Oh my goodness! Is he alright?" The worried voice of her mother came from behind her.

"Hold on," she replied. She quickly positioned him onto his back and reached for his wrist. Grabbing it, she checked his pulse. _'It's not as strong as it should be, but it's not weak enough to worry about too much.' _Swiftly coming to a conclusion, she turned and met the concerned eyes of her mother. "He's fine, just completely exhausted. He looks a little malnourished, too…When he wakes up he should have something to drink and eat right away."

Her mother nodded in complete agreement. She herself had noticed he looked a little dehydrated and underfed. "Well, Kagome dear, we can't leave him on the floor. Grab his legs for me and we'll lift him onto the lounge. One, two, three!" she counted out, her arms wrapped under and around his. She and Kagome heaved. After a brief struggle, they had succeeded in laying him on the lounge.

"Wow," Kagome huffed, "he's heavier than he looks!"

Mrs. Higurashi had a contemplative look on her face. "I know it's none of my business and I shouldn't pry, but I'm worried about him. After he's had a good meal tomorrow, I'm going to try to find out why we found him in such a dreadful state. But first, perhaps we should check his things in case there's someone we can contact?"

Kagome had a thoughtful frown on her face as she regarded the question. "No, I don't think that's such a good idea, mum. What if he's running from somewhere and doesn't want to be found? I think we should just stick to asking him some questions when he's ready."

"It's a good thing it's the start of the weekend tomorrow, I'm going to need your help, Kagome."

* * *

Things were slowly starting to make themselves known to Ryoga as he regained consciousness. _'I'm lying on something softer than my sleeping bag…and I can smell something cooking. I'm definitely not in my tent.'_ The events that had transpired last night had now begun working their way to the front of his memory._ 'That's right…I was about to set up my tent when this girl came. What was her name? Ka-something… Ka… Ka-gome? Yes, that was it, Kagome. She brought me to her house and her mother said I could spend the night on the lounge. That must be what I'm lying on now…but I don't remember lying on it! Wait…I remember feeling dizzy and light-headed. I thought the room was moving and everything went blurry. I don't remember anything after that… Did I pass out?'_

After taking a moment, he opened his eyes. He had to blink a few times to get rid of whatever had tried to glue his eyes shut. When that was done, he wished he'd kept them closed. The light was a lot brighter than what he was used to waking up to and it hurt his sensitive eyes. He involuntarily let out a small groan at this. He attempted to sit up but something immediately stopped him and gently pushed him back down.

"You just lie there, okay?" came Kagome's voice to his right. "You gave us a bit of a scare when you suddenly collapsed. Mum's cooking you breakfast right now. Do you feel well enough to eat?"

Ryoga took a deep breath. "Yes, thankyou, but you really didn't have to go to all that trouble."

Kagome shook her head. "It's no trouble at all. This is a shrine, you know. Travellers are always welcome here."

"A shrine?"

"Yes, this is the Higurashi Shrine."

Ryoga turned his head so Kagome couldn't see his face. "This is probably going to sound like a stupid question, but are we in Tokyo?"

Kagome blinked, caught unawares by the odd question. "Yes, we are…"

Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief. He attempted to sit up once more and succeeded, propped up by pillows. Kagome was about to ask him why he wanted to know such a thing when her mother walked in carrying a breakfast tray. She had heard them talking, so she knew their guest was awake.

"Good, you're finally awake. Here you go dear," she said, handing him the tray. It just had a simple bowl of rice with a few vegetables on the side and a hot cup of tea. She thought it would be best if he had something small and simple first off. "So, why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Ryoga?"

Ryoga, who was eating slowly, paused. "There's really not much to tell. I'm a wanderer and travel all over. I tend to get lost fairly easily though, so I'm usually wandering around longer than I'd like."

"You must have seen some interesting sights. Oh, I'm Yakume Higurashi." She dipped her head in a short bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you properly, Mrs. Higurashi," he said, dipping his head to her while trying not to spill anything.

'_So well mannered!'_ she thought with a smile. "Well, that would explain the backpack at least."

"Lost, huh? So that's why you asked me that question?" Kagome said, looking at him curiously.

"Uh, yeah…" he mumbled, a faint blush making itself known.

"Do you work out?" Yakume asked out of the blue. Kagome looked askance at her mother.

"I'm a martial artist," Ryoga replied. He set down the now empty bowl and reached for the tea.

"Ah," was all she said in response.

"So, Ryoga," Kagome said, eager to break the slightly awkward silence, "are you headed somewhere?"

Ryoga put down his half-empty cup and let it rest in his lap. "Yes, I'm on my way back to Nerima. I don't suppose you could point me in the right direction?"

Yakume gathered up the tray. "Why yes, I can show you which way it is. But I'd feel much better if you stayed here another night. You really aren't in any condition to be wandering around. And certainly not that far!" she exclaimed, pinning Ryoga with the no-nonsense look that only mothers can pull off.

"But -" he started to protest, but a stern glare quickly made him clamp his mouth shut.

"No buts, mister. You're not leaving here until I think you're ready." She walked off to the kitchen leaving both teens with stunned expressions.

Ryoga turned to Kagome for some way out of this, but she nodded at him. "She's right, you know. I think it's a wonderful idea for you to stay here for a little while!" He gave a small huff but was inwardly happy at the chance to rest somewhere other than his tent.

The Lost Boy drained the last of his tea. He felt a lot better already. He caught the sound of footsteps coming up behind him but relaxed when Kagome greeted her grandfather.

Her grandfather shuffled into Ryoga's view and he saw a faint glimmer of suspicion in the old man's eyes. Ryoga unconsciously tensed his muscles, wary of some type of surprise from the frail-looking man. He suddenly lurched towards the young martial artist, a slip of paper in his outstretched hand. Ryoga reflexively moved his head to one side, out of the way.

Kagome blinked, trying to understand what she was seeing. It didn't take her long to figure it out. _'Oh no, Grandpa must think Ryoga's a demon… I better stop him before this gets out of hand.'_ She swiftly got up and stood behind her grandfather, hands on hips and an angry scowl adorning her face.

Grandpa, sensing an angry aura right at his back, timidly turned around and came face to face with his enraged granddaughter. Choosing the better part of valour, he wisely high-tailed it out of the room quickly slapping one of his sutras on Ryoga's forehead on his way.

Kagome sat back down, grumbling about paranoid old men. She glanced at Ryoga, ready to apologise, but had to try and hold back a sudden bout of laughter that threatened to overtake her. The poor boy was sitting there with a look of blank shock, the sutra clinging to his hair. She reached out and gently pulled it away. "I am _so _sorry! My grandpa has the annoying habit of doing that to new people, please don't think too badly of him."

"Uh, no, that's okay… First time that's happened to me. With the strange things that I see or that keep happening to me, I guess it was only a matter of time," he said, giving a brief chuckle. Kagome blinked at this announcement. She was spared from finding a response by the arrival of her mother.

"Ryoga, would you like me to wash your clothes for you? No offence dear, but they look like they could use it," Yakume offered.

"Oh, uh…you really don't have to. It's far too much trouble and I'm imposing on you enough already," he said, a little too quick as he was embarrassed by the attention.

"It's no trouble. I'd feel much better if your clothes were clean. If I let you leave with them like that, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," she finished a bit dramatically.

A short while later found Ryoga, blushing brightly, sitting on the lounge in nothing but a pair of boxers, wrapped in a blanket. Mrs. Higurashi had made him fish out all of his clothes. She promptly hustled them from him and took them straight to the washing machine.

* * *

It wasn't until after lunch on Sunday that Yakume Higurashi declared Ryoga fit for travel. Ryoga was both relieved and saddened by this. He had enjoyed the family atmosphere, it was something he secretly missed greatly. He was eager to get back to Nerima though.

Slipping on his backpack, he stood ready to go at the top of the shrine steps. He faced the family that had temporarily taken him in. "Thankyou for all you've done for me, I'll never forget you and I'll try to visit if I ever come this way again."

Mrs. Higurashi felt a few tears threatening to spill. She had taken a liking to Ryoga and knew she would miss him. They had chatted quite a bit and she enjoyed his stories. Giving in to her motherly instincts, she rushed forward and enveloped him in a loving hug. "You better come visit! Here, take this and promise to keep in touch. I want to hear of your travels!" She handed him a slip of paper with the shrine's phone number on it.

Kagome, a little more reserved towards Ryoga than her mother, simply shook his hand. "It was nice meeting you, Ryoga. I hope you come back to visit soon." Her fingers were starting to tingle. She quickly let go of his hand._ 'What was that? Maybe it's just because Ryoga's pretty cute and my hormones are betraying me? No, I don't like Ryoga that way.'_

Sota shook his head at his sister. He turned and waved to Ryoga. "See ya!"

Grandpa just muttered under his breath. He had noticed that Ryoga has fangs and was still wary of him. He was glad to see the Hibiki boy leave.

Ryoga grinned at them all, accidentally flashing his fangs, before he walked off in the direction that Mrs. Higurashi had told him to go. He was soon out of their sights.

"Did you see that?" Sota breathed out with a hint of awe. "He has fangs! Do you think he's part demon?"

"I don't know, honey. He's such a sweet young man, though. I can't wait to hear from him!" his mother answered, heading inside with Grandpa and Sota close behind.

Kagome stood there a while longer, deep in thought._ 'Is it possible? Is that why my hand tingled when I shook his? That doesn't happen with Inuyasha… There's definitely something strange about Ryoga Hibiki. I'll ask Kaede when I go back through the well.'_

* * *

'_A week. A week! But I'm finally back! Oh, Akane…at last I can see you again…'_ Ryoga had wandered past the Cat Café so he knew he had made it back to Nerima. He had travelled through some type of desert he was sure shouldn't have been there on his way back. Surprisingly, that was the worst of the detours he had taken.

The fanged boy was currently on his way to the Tendo Dojo to give Akane a small gift he had bought while in the last town. He was hoping to run into someone who could lead him there, but he hadn't come across any familiar faces. It was Sunday, so he knew they weren't in school.

Ryoga was concentrating so hard that he jumped a little when a voice cried, "Yo, Ryoga!"

Stopping, he turned in the direction the voice came from. There, balanced on top of the fence he was walking beside, was Ranma Saotome.

Ranma hopped off the fence and landed next to Ryoga. "So you finally made it back I see. Where'd you end up this time? Hokkaido? Okinawa? Shikoku?"

"No," Ryoga snapped at him, "I didn't leave Tokyo."

Ranma blinked at this news. "Really? Wow, you were gone for nearly three weeks and didn't end up leaving Tokyo? That has to be some kind of record!"

"Shut up!" the Lost Boy growled. "How dare you mock me!" He suddenly threw a punch aimed straight at Ranma's head.

Ranma had predicted such a response though and was well prepared. He had dodged to the left and felt the air from the punch's force whistle past his ear. "Still too slow, Mr. P!" he taunted.

"Don't call me that!" Ryoga snarled. The two boys traded a few blows, weaving and blocking, when Ryoga swiftly lashed out with his foot; determined to make the other pay for his sarcasm.

The pigtailed boy had to twist himself right around to avoid the foot from caving in his skull. Thinking of a quick plan to end the fight, Ranma's hands flashed at near Amaguriken speeds and locked around Ryoga's ankle. He tensed his legs and shot up into the air, taking the fanged boy with him.

Ryoga, taking a swift glance down, figured out Ranma's plan. _'He's going to toss me into the canal! Well if I have to go in the water then I'm taking him with me!'_ With that thought planted firmly in his mind, he ripped off one of his many bandannas and snapped it around Ranma's leg.

"It's been fun catching up, but I have to get back before Akane decides to cook lunch!" Parting line said, Ranma gave a half-spin to build momentum and let go of his passenger. The smirk he gained from this small victory only lasted a brief moment as he felt a tug on his leg and splashed down in the canal. "W-what the…?" he, now she, spluttered before spotting a yellow and black bandanna tied around her leg. "Why that sneaky little pig!" she huffed, searching for the aforementioned swine.

She waited for a tell-tale squeal of outrage, but none came. Starting to become a little worried for the piglet, she stood up and whirled around. She was about to shout out for him when she saw a large black canine sitting in the water. It had a yellow and black bandanna tied around it's head and a large pack on it's back that had a red umbrella strapped to it. Ranma gasped. "R-Ryoga…? Is that you, buddy?"

The canine lifted its head, revealing eyes that belonged to the Lost Boy. It was sitting there in shock, jaws working but no sound coming forth. It stared down at its paws and gave off a loud whine.

"Come on man, answer me! Is that really you, Ryoga?" Ranma watched as the animal slowly nodded. Determined to get to the bottom of this, the redhead scooped Ryoga up, pack and all, and ran to the dojo.

* * *

"Welcome back, Ranma. I've just started lunch if you're hungry," Kasumi said with her gentle smile. Her eyes came to rest on the wet bundle of fur in the girl's arms. "Oh my! Is that a new pet?"

Ranma shook her head. "Actually, Kasumi, this is Ryoga. We were fighting near the canal and both ended up in it. When I saw him, he was like this. Could you heat up some water so he can tell us what happened?"

On the relatively short run to the dojo, via rooftops, Ranma had asked Ryoga if he wanted this to be kept secret like his piglet curse. Ryoga had motioned that he didn't want this hushed. _'I feel so bad for continuously lying to Akane…I won't do that again! Keeping it a secret last time was a mistake, I see that now. Though I have __**NO**__ idea why I didn't turn into a pig!'_

Kasumi nodded to show she understood and left the two cursed martial artists alone while she grabbed the kettle from the table and headed to the kitchen.

Ryoga let out a soft sigh, glad Kasumi hadn't asked any questions yet. He didn't have the ability to write on signs in this form and so had no way to answer. As the Lost Boy's luck would have it, Akane chose that time to arrive home.

"I'm home!" she announced. Walking into the main room, Akane had to pause for a moment. _'Why is there a black dog here?'_

"Hey, Akane, what's the hold up?" Nabiki asked from right behind her. "Doorways were made to pass through, not stand in," she added, a little sarcastically. Nabiki had just come down from the furo, so she knew nothing of what was going on. Having Akane block her path was not helping her mood.

Akane scowled lightly at her sister, but obliged her by walking in the room with Nabiki right behind. "Hey, Ranma. What's with the dog?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

For some reason, when Akane said 'dog', something didn't ring true within Ryoga. He was feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that was happening, a bit too quick for his liking, so he ignored it. He raised his furry head and looked at Akane eye-to-eye. He dipped his head in a canine version of a bow and uttered a couple of soft barks.

"Wow, it's well trained!" she said, beaming brightly.

Ranma resisted the urge to bang her head on the table at her fiancée's ignorance. "This is no ordinary animal, Akane-" she started to explain before Nabiki interrupted.

"Well, well, Hibiki! What trouble have you gotten yourself into now?" she asked in a vaguely condescending tone.

Akane's gaze swept over the area. "You mean Ryoga? Where, I don't see him here, Nabiki?"

Ranma gave a long-suffering sigh. "Nabiki's right, Akane. Ryoga IS here," she exclaimed, gesturing her hand towards the furry form of her sort-of friend. "_This_ is Ryoga."

Akane blinked and turned her attention back to the animal in question. "R-Ryoga? Is that you? Did you get cursed too?"

Ryoga was feeling a little dizzy. _'So many questions! I don't even know how to answer them! How can I tell them what I don't know myself?'_ he thought frantically. His state of mind was inadvertently made known to the others as he made small whimpering noises.

Ranma frowned, studying the Lost Boy. "Akane, how do you expect him to answer when he can't speak? Something's tellin' me that even Ryoga doesn't know much about this. We'll just have to wait for Kasumi to bring the hot water."

Kasumi walked in carrying a kettle full of hot water just as Ranma finished speaking. "Here you go, Ryoga," Kasumi said, smiling, as she poured it over him. She had noticed that Ranma wasn't carrying any of Ryoga's clothes, so she had guessed that Ryoga kept his clothes for the transformation like Ranma's father does.

A hiss of steam filled the air as a sort of suspenseful silence sprung into existence. It didn't last long. When the air cleared, the others watched as Ryoga wrung the water out of his bandanna. "Thankyou, Kasumi," he said simply.

Ranma silently accepted the kettle from Kasumi and poured the rest of the water over herself.

"B-but…how?" Akane stuttered as Nabiki observed the scene impassively. Kasumi was sitting back, as though she was a spectator at a sporting event.

"So, Ryoga…" Ranma trailed off expectantly.

The fanged boy heaved a sigh, tying his bandanna back in it's place.. "I-I don't really know…" Ranma quirked an eyebrow at him. "What I mean is, that's the first time I've turned into a dog… I don't know how or why, either!"

"So you suddenly gained a Jusenkyo curse and have no idea how it happened?" Nabiki asked sceptically over Kasumi's soft gasp of, 'Oh my!'.

Ryoga just nodded glumly.

"Are you sure? Maybe someone splashed ya with cursed water while you were sleepin' and dumped hot water on ya before you woke up?" Ranma suggested with a distinctive stare at the Lost Boy.

"Not likely," Ryoga said with a bit of a strain to his voice. "I'd know if someone was sneaking up on me, even if I was asleep."

"Then how do you explain the situation?" asked the middle Tendo daughter, a faint glare on her face from the lack of information.

"I told you…I don't-don't know…" he replied, his breathing becoming increasingly ragged.

"Ryoga?" Akane asked inquiringly.

"You okay, man? You don't look so good," Ranma added, expanding on his fiancée's inquiry.

Ryoga simply screwed his eyes shut and tried to get his breathing back to normal.

Kasumi, now worried, sat next to him and brushed back his thick bangs so she could lay her hand against his forehead. A concerned frown graced her face. "You're burning up!" she announced. "You really should lie down. I'll go get a damp cloth."

After she once again left the room, Ranma took pity on his greatest rival. "Kasumi's right, you really should lay down. You can use my futon if you like," he offered.

Ryoga shook his head, fighting off the wave of nausea that the action induced. "No, it's okay. I'm fine, really!"

'_He doesn't look very convincing,'_ Akane thought as she watched him rise shakily to his feet. _'He's so pale! How come I didn't notice before?'_

Nabiki was watching him with a critical eye. _'If he leaves now, he won't get very far in that state. Hibiki's a tough guy, but being physically strong won't protect him against a fever or something.'_

Ranma, despite being clueless to many things, also noticed these conditions as Ryoga shuffled to his pack. "Hey, you goin' somewhere?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

"Yeah, I am," Ryoga shot back. "I have something I have to do."

Ranma narrowed his eyes as Ryoga knelt down to fix a strap that had come loose. "Can't it wait? You should take it easy for a while. Listen to Kasumi and go lie down before you fall over!" Ranma almost shouted, irritated by the fanged boy's stubbornness.

Aforementioned Tendo had re-entered the room in time to hear Ryoga's reply; a damp cloth held in her hands.

Ryoga felt a hot wave of dizziness wash over him. "I promised to call…" he said, barely louder than a sigh. Unable to fight the invisible waves that swept through him anymore, he gave in and let the darkness fill his vision.

Ranma had only just heard the last line, and wondered what the Lost Boy had meant, before he saw Ryoga suddenly slump over his backpack. He darted to his feet and bounded over to the unconscious boy. Swiftly checking him over, he stated, "He's passed out, the idiot. I'll take him up to my bed and lay him down." Matching actions to words, the cursed martial artist lifted Ryoga over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and headed up the stairs. Kasumi quickly trotted after him with the cloth clutched firmly in her fingers, Akane right on her heels.

* * *

After the test she had come back to do on Monday was over, Kagome had repacked her bag, said goodbye, and gone back to the past.

She was on her way to see Kaede. The old priestess was wise and knew many things. Kagome thought she might be able to shed some light on what happened with Ryoga.

Ah she neared Kaede's hut, she saw some of her friends. Inuyasha was lying on Kaede's roof and Sango was sitting near the doorway polishing her boomerang with Kirara at her feet, Shippo right beside the two-tailed cat demon. Smiling brightly, the schoolgirl shouted a greeting.

Shippo instantly launched himself at Kagome and hugged her tightly. "You're finally back!" he said enthusiastically.

"Welcome back, Kagome," Sango said in a cheery voice. Kirara mewed her agreement to her mistresses' greeting.

Inuyasha jumped off the roof and landed in front of Kagome. "'Bout time!" he grumbled, but Kagome could tell he wasn't really angry. "Took you long enough."

"Yeah, well…I had to study first!" she gently reprimanded him. "I do have something to ask Kaede, though. You coming?" she asked her friends. Sango and Shippo nodded and walked inside. Inuyasha huffed, but followed the others. Kagome smiled at his back and went in.

Once inside, she found Kaede and Miroku already there. The others sat down and waited for Kagome to speak.

"Welcome back, child," Kaede said in a grandmotherly way.

"Nice to have you back with us, Lady Kagome," Miroku chimed in after her.

"Hello!" she replied brightly. "Kaede, I have something to ask you," she said, turning serious.

* * *

When everyone had gone upstairs, Nabiki took the opportunity to search through Ryoga's pack. She wasn't looking for money or anything incriminating, though. No, Nabiki was actually looking for his personal identification. _'I know I'm known as the Ice Queen of Furinkan, but I'm not heartless,'_ she thought with a tinge of bitterness. _'Hopefully he has a phone number or address written down somewhere. As long as I can contact someone who knows him better. He's never mentioned his parents, so I wonder… Does he live with a guardian or does he just wander without anyone knowing where or how he is?'_

In the right-hand pocket on the side of his pack, Nabiki's fingers brushed against a box of some kind. Pulling it out, she examined the small, metal container. Itching with curiosity, she gently lifted the lid. Inside was some paper and a few pens. Extracting the top piece of paper, she turned it over and gave a self-satisfied grin. A phone number was written on it. Closing the box and putting it back, Nabiki took the slip of paper and walked to the phone.

After a few rings, she heard someone answer. _"Hello, Higurashi residence, Yakume speaking,"_ said a woman's voice.

'_Higurashi? Maybe she's a family friend?'_ Nabiki thought, confused. "Hello, my name is Nabiki Tendo. May I ask you something?"

"_Of course you may, Miss Tendo," _Yakume said in a slightly puzzled tone.

"Mrs. Higurashi, correct?" Nabiki asked professionally.

"_Yes."_

"Do you know someone by the name of Ryoga Hibiki?"

"_Ryoga? Yes, I do. Is he there?"_ she asked eagerly. She had been waiting for the young man to call.

Nabiki gave a small cough to clear her throat, wondering how to word the news. Kasumi had come down just as she was about to dial the number and informed her of Ryoga's condition once Nabiki had explained what she was doing with the phone. "Yes, he's here at the Tendo Dojo. Are you his guardian?"

"_Not really. He stayed here for a couple of nights a week ago after my daughter found him in our yard. Poor boy collapsed after she brought him inside. Why, is something wrong? He hasn't collapsed from exhaustion again, has he?"_ Yakume inquired anxiously.

Nabiki was a little taken aback by the impromptu interrogation. Gathering her wits, she prepared to tell the older woman the news, deciding to leave out the curse. "One of our houseguests, Ranma, found him and brought him here. He was fine, but a short while after he arrived he seemed to suddenly get very sick. He started breathing heavily and he went pale. He passed out a few minutes ago and Ranma took him upstairs."

* * *

Kagome had stayed in the Feudal Era for almost a week, coming back yesterday. Kaede had been as mystified by what Kagome described as the fifteen-year-old herself. All of them had spent the entire time trying to figure it out. They had come up empty-handed, though. Sango had suggested that maybe she imagined it. _'But I know I didn't!'_

At the moment, Kagome was debating on whether to tell her mother about what she felt when she shook Ryoga's hand or not. Her internal debate was rudely interrupted as the phone rang downstairs.

"I'll get it!" she heard her mother yell. Wondering if it was one of her friends from school, Kagome slowly walked downstairs and stood near her mother. She heard her mother gasp and instantly became intrigued.

"Oh dear, is he okay?" Yakume asked worriedly. She was silent as the person on the other end of the phone line spoke.

"_He'll be fine. Kasumi says he just has a high fever. The guy's tough, Mrs. Higurashi, he'll be over it in no time," _Nabiki said reassuringly.

Yakume frowned thoughtfully as she digested this news. She was trying to think of something to say when she felt her daughter tap her on the shoulder. She turned to face Kagome's inquiring expression.

"What's wrong, mum?" Kagome asked, a little dismayed by how worried her mother appeared.

"It's Ryoga, dear. He got to where we wanted, but the poor boy's fallen quite ill. I knew I should've made him stay here at the shrine longer…" Yakume said, trailing off wistfully.

This little titbit of information made Nabiki's mind race. _"A shrine, did you say?"_

"Yes. We live at the Higurashi Shrine, why?" Mrs. Higurashi replied.

"_Do you know anything about curses?"_ Nabiki boldly asked.

Yakume was silent for a moment. "Curses?" she parroted.

'_Curses?'_ Kagome repeated in her thoughts. _'That's it, maybe Ryoga's cursed!_ _Because I have spiritual powers, it was affecting him and maybe that's what the tingle meant?'_ Proud of this theory, Kagome motioned for her mother to hand over the phone. Mrs. Higurashi did so willingly. She knew her daughter knew a fair bit about this sort of stuff.

"Hello," she said in a vaguely professional tone. "My name is Kagome, I'm the one that found Ryoga. Did you want to know something about curses?"

"_Yes. I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, but you might be able to help. Are you a priestess?"_ Nabiki asked, trying to quell her rising excitement. She could only imagine how much the various cursed individuals in Nerima would pay for information about a possible cure.

"Yes, I am," Kagome confidently replied.

"_Ryoga seems to have recently acquired a curse that turns him into some type of canine. He has no idea how it happened and, apparently, today was the first time it activated. I was wondering if it might be responsible for his sudden attack of fever,"_ The Ice Queen delicately stated.

Kagome was sad to hear that Ryoga was sick, but this girl had answered her most important question. "He was cursed and now he's some type of dog?" she asked, hoping she hadn't just been hearing things.

Nabiki gave a barely perceptible sigh. _"It's a bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid. He turns into a dog when he comes into contact with cold water and changes back into a human when he's hit with hot water," _she patiently explained.

"Hmm…" Kagome hummed, deep in thought. "Can you hold on for a minute?" she asked quickly. After getting a positive reply, she rapidly told her mother what Nabiki had disclosed.

"I think that we should go to this place. Inuyasha should come too, he might be of some help being half dog-demon," she suggested. She saw her mother nod.

"I'll leave Sota here with my father. I'll make sure to tell him to ring your school to excuse you from tomorrow. Oh, dear…I never imagined that Ryoga was cursed!" Mrs. Higurashi said in a rush.

"Mum, calm down. Here, take the phone," Kagome said, handing it back. She found herself rather thirsty, so she headed to the kitchen, leaving her mother holding the phone.

"Miss Tendo?" Yakume asked hesitantly.

"_Yes, Mrs. Higurashi?"_ came the swift reply.

"Would it be alright if my daughter, one of her friends and myself came to the dojo? My daughter and her friend would like to try and help poor Ryoga. I really think they would be a big help," she gushed out. "Is that okay?"

"_I'm not sure,"_ came the uncertain reply. _"If you intend to stay over the night, or however long you'll need, you'll have to sleep in the dojo as the house is full. We usually rent the dojo out, however, as we're a little strapped for cash."_

"That's fine, I can pay you some sort of rent for the use of your dojo," she immediately said. "I'm sorry if I seem a bit forward about this, but while he was here Ryoga became like an extended family member to me."

"_I understand,"_ Nabiki interposed smoothly. _"When do you plan on coming? I'm not sure if you know of Hibiki's direction problem, but he'll accidentally wander off and get himself lost shortly."_

Yakume nodded, even though Nabiki couldn't see the gesture. "Yes, I know about his problem. If we leave here within the next hour or so, we should be able to get to Nerima by sunset. Is that alright with you?"

"_That's fine. So I'm telling my father that we'll have three guests renting out the dojo for a while?"_ she asked, wanting to completely confirm it.

"Indeed. Please try to keep Ryoga in bed so he rests and doesn't wander off," Yakume practically pleaded.

"_Will do, Mrs. Higurashi. I guess I'll be seeing you in a few hours. I have to go now, so I'll say goodbye,"_ Nabiki said, wrapping up the conversation. Her dad and Mr. Saotome had just arrived back from wherever they had been and Nabiki had to inform her father of what was going on.

"Of course. Goodbye, Nabiki," Yakume sighed as she hung up. Kagome was standing in the doorway, waiting for her mother to tell her what was going on. "Go fetch Inuyasha, dear. We're leaving for Nerima as soon as possible, so be quick."

Kagome merely nodded and swiftly exited the house, heading for the well.

* * *

"So you want me to come **why** exactly?" Inuyasha demanded, curious but wary.

"Because," Kagome said, as patiently as she could. "She said he has a curse that turns him into some type of dog. I thought you might be able to help."

The half dog-demon gave her a pointed stare.

"I'm not trying to make fun of you, Inuyasha! Please? This is really important to my mum…" she begged, pinning Inuyasha with a puppy-eyes look. He caved in a moment later.

They stopped off at Kaede's hut and told the others they would be gone for a couple of days. They headed for the well in Inuyasha's forest with the good luck wishes of their friends ringing in their ears.

* * *

**A/N:** Did you know this is the longest fic chapter I've ever written? 7070 words minus the notes and disclaimer! I feel rather proud of that fact. I know I've seen longer chapters, but it's an accomplishment for me.

I have no idea what Kagome's mother is called as it's never mentioned. So, I called her 'Yakume'. It means 'duty' and I choose it for the simple reason that Mrs. Higurashi is such a dutiful mother.

I hope I've attracted your interest and that you enjoyed it! I love constructive criticism, I'm always looking to improve my writing. Flames really aren't appreciated in the slightest. If you didn't like it, please let me know why and what I could do to make it better instead of simply saying, 'It sucks!'.

Reviews always motivate me, so if you want more you'll have to review! Pretty please?


	2. Curiosity Killed the Cat

**A/N:** Hello again! Believe it or not, this a very quick update for me. It usually takes me, on average, about three months or so. Terrible, aren't I? Anyway, I just want to thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews! In light of your positive feedback, I proudly present the second chapter of Digging Deeper! (Like the pun?) Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do declare, bold readers, that I rule the world - so of course I own everything in it! Wow, I'm full of crap aren't I? Ha-ha, no I don't own the rights to these two original works. I do, however, own this plot, storyline, blah, blah, blah…

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Recap:**

"_That__'__s fine. So I__'__m telling my father that we__'__ll have three guests renting out the dojo for a while?__"_ she asked, wanting to completely confirm it.

"Indeed. Please try to keep Ryoga in bed so he rests and doesn't wander off," Yakume practically pleaded.

"_Will do, Mrs. Higurashi. I guess I__'__ll be seeing you in a few hours. I have to go now, so I__'__ll say goodbye,__"_ Nabiki said, wrapping up the conversation. Her dad and Mr. Saotome had just arrived back from wherever they had been and Nabiki had to inform her father of what was going on.

"Of course. Goodbye, Nabiki," Yakume sighed as she hung up. Kagome was standing in the doorway, waiting for her mother to tell her what was going on. "Go fetch Inuyasha, dear. We're leaving for Nerima as soon as possible, so be quick."

Kagome merely nodded and swiftly exited the house, heading for the well.

* * *

"So you want me to come **why** exactly?" Inuyasha demanded, curious but wary.

"Because," Kagome said, as patiently as she could. "She said he has a curse that turns him into some type of dog. I thought you might be able to help."

The half dog-demon gave her a pointed stare.

"I'm not trying to make fun of you, Inuyasha! Please? This is really important to my mum…" she begged, pinning Inuyasha with a puppy-eyes look. He caved in a moment later.

They stopped off at Kaede's hut and told the others they would be gone for a couple of days. They headed for the well in Inuyasha's forest with the good luck wishes of their friends ringing in their ears.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Curiosity Killed the Cat, But What About the Canine?**

Inuyasha, despite earlier protests, was fascinated by Mrs. Higurashi's car and was nervously excited to be riding in it. He still didn't trust the contraption completely, but he was confident he could get them all out of harms way if something happened.

Kagome was already tired as they got in the car. It had taken a lot of coaxing, cajoling, yelling and a 'sit' command to get the stubborn half-demon in the vehicle. She didn't blame his reluctance. _'I remember when a truck drove past us, before the whole mess with Sou'unga; he growled at it and was ready to draw Tetsusaiga!'_

Yakume had been a little exasperated by Inuyasha's stubborn streak. She had to bite back a smile at the way her daughter handled the situation.

They had been on the road for close to three hours. A couple of minutes ago they had driven past a sign that informed them they were in Nerima at last. Pulling over, Yakume asked the nearest people, a group of teenagers, if they knew the way to the Tendo Dojo. The teens were students at Furinkan High, so they were able to draw a rough map for the three to follow.

After twenty minutes of slow driving, and frequent map checks, Mrs. Higurashi parked across from a building bearing a sign that said 'Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes'. Climbing out of the car, they took a few seconds to stretch their stiff limbs.

"Finally…" Inuyasha grumbled to himself. _'That car thingy's pretty fast, but I bet I could've gotten here sooner if I ran,'_ he thought smugly.

The front gates were open, so Yakume lead the others in. She had just raised a hand to knock when a shout split the relative silence.

"Whadja do that for, ya stupid panda?!" yelled an obviously angry, female voice.

"Growf!" was heard afterwards.

"What? Damn, Pops, that has to be one of the more dumber things you've ever said!" yelled the girl again.

The three at the door exchanged inquisitive looks. Before Mrs. Higurashi could stop them, Kagome and Inuyasha had vanished around the corner to the source of the noise. Sighing in resignation, she followed at a more sedate pace.

The priestess and the half-demon screeched to a halt at the scene before them. A redheaded girl appeared to be using some type of martial art to pound a giant panda. Mrs. Higurashi came around the corner in time to see the panda pull a sign from seemingly nowhere. All three were further confused to see that the sign had writing on it.

-Now listen here, boy!- the characters spelled.

'_Boy? That's a girl!'_ All three had a thought similar to this circling around in their heads.

"I wonder who trained that panda…" Yakume pondered out loud. This simple sentence had the wondrous effect of stopping the fight.

The panda stood there, irritated at the interference, while the girl bounced over to them.

"Oh, hey, are you here for Ryoga?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm Yakume Higurashi. May I ask who you are?" Kagome's mother inquired politely.

"Hmm? Oh, right! I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome," the redhead cheerfully announced.

"So you're Ranma? Ryoga told me that Ranma Saotome was a boy! Oh dear, I hope I haven't gotten anyone confused…" she mumbled distractedly.

Kagome and Inuyasha were a little lost during this exchange. Kagome hadn't heard as many of Ryoga's stories as her mother had because she was studying in her room. Inuyasha only knew what bits and pieces Kagome had told all of them back with Kaede.

"Hey, I AM a guy!" Ranma yelled indignantly. Mrs. Higurashi just stood there further confused. Ranma, seeing the blank looks on their faces, realised that Ryoga mustn't have told them about the curses. "I guess Ryoga didn't tell you about my curse, did he?"

"What?" Kagome exclaimed. "You're cursed too?"

The boy-turned-girl nodded. "Yep. I'm actually a guy and that panda's my father." She gestured for them to follow her. "I'll change back and then I'll take you to Ryoga. He's still sleeping. Hasn't woken up since he passed out earlier, just before Nabiki rang you," she added, frowning a little.

The two Higurashi's and Inuyasha were watching Ranma intently. Yakume had told them that Ryoga changed with hot and cold water. _'Is Ranma the same?'_ Kagome wondered.

Lucky for Ranma and Genma, Kasumi had put a kettle on the stove to boil as soon as she heard the telltale splash of a body entering the koi pond from the air. She wordlessly handed the redhead the kettle and turned to her newest guests. "Hello, my name is Kasumi. Thankyou for coming here to see Ryoga. It's nice to know he has friends outside of Nerima," she said, polite as ever.

Ranma, once again male, was shaking some excess water from his hair. He looked up only to spot the three looking at him with various odd expressions. "I take it you've never heard of Jusenkyo?" They all shook their heads in the negative. "Well, I guess I'll tell you after you check up on the Eternally Lost Boy. Nabiki said you sounded pretty worried about him. Come on, he's upstairs," he said, leading the way through the house.

'_At least that explains why he smells so strange, like a male AND a female, and __**still**__ has only his body's natural scent…'_ Inuyasha thought, proud at having figured this out. He frowned as another strange scent hit his sensitive nose as they stopped in front of a sliding door. The scent was too jumbled and confused to properly identify though.

Ranma slid open the door and leant against the cupboard. "See? He's still here. Like I said, he hasn't woken up yet and it's been hours… We were gonna call Doc Tofu, but…well…that probably would've turned out bad with Kasumi bein' here and all…"

Yakume rushed over to the figure lying prone on one of the futons. She brushed back his messy, black hair, slick with sweat, and felt the heat radiating from him. She motioned her daughter and Inuyasha over. "What can you two tell me?"

Inuyasha knew nothing of this boy, but he liked Kagome's mother and it made him feel bad to see her upset; she was always so kind to him despite his half-breed status. Inuyasha wanted to do this to help pay back her kindness, but he didn't want an audience. He gave a pointed look at Kagome and she caught on to what he wanted.

"Excuse me mum, Ranma, but could you please leave the room? It'll be easier for us to concentrate if it's just us two in here," she said, feeling a little guilty for kicking her mother out of the room.

Ranma gave them a brief suspicious glance but nodded. "I'll be downstairs if you need me," he stated and exited the room, followed by Kagome's anxious mother.

Inuyasha nodded his thanks to Kagome and sat down next to Ryoga, opposite from her as she was sitting on the Lost Boy's other side. He sniffed the air and was unsurprised to find that the jumbled mixture of scents was coming from the sleeping boy. Now that he was closer, and it was just Kagome and himself, he continued sniffing to try and sort out the scents.

Kagome had noticed what he was doing. Just from someone's scent, she had learned from Inuyasha that you could tell a lot about that person. After a few seconds she began to become impatient as it had never taken the half dog-demon this long to find something out before. "Well?" she asked in a slightly bossy tone, "what have you learned?"

Inuyasha growled at her for interrupting, but answered anyway. "His scent is all over the place; and I don't mean the room. I can make out his natural scent, a very faint trace of pig for some reason, the smell of illness - his fever, and something else that's really familiar…"

The young priestess felt all the irritation drain out of her to be replaced by confusion and curiosity. "Huh? Okay, so you can smell that he's sick, a male human and…pig? And something that's familiar to you?"

"You got most of it, Kagome," he replied, shaking his head gently from side to side. "But he doesn't smell completely human…"

* * *

'_Huh, I wonder what they're doing in there that's so important that they had to kick me and Mrs. Higurashi out?'_ Ranma wondered. Both of them had sat down in the living room where everybody else was. _'I wonder what that girl can do for Ryoga that her mother can't… And that strange guy in the old-fashioned red clothes…he gives me a weird kinda feeling, like his aura is __**wrong**__ somehow. Different to everyone else that I've ever met anyway…'_ The youngest Saotome was left alone with his thoughts and no answers.

"Oh dear, I do hope they find out what it is that's made poor Ryoga so ill…" Kasumi said, glancing at the stairs as though she expected to see Kagome and Inuyasha coming down to tell them what was wrong.

"It's nice to actually meet you in person, Mrs. Higurashi," said Nabiki, snatching one of the crackers off the plate that Kasumi had set on the table.

"So you're Nabiki? My, you're much younger than I thought. You sounded so professional on the phone! You'll go far, young lady," Yakume said, beaming at the middle Tendo sister. Nabiki immediately squashed the proud smile that the praise had caused.

Soun and Genma had offered greetings but were now playing Go, blissfully ignorant to any conversations taking place outside of their game board.

"Say, why don't you tell us how you met Ryoga?" Akane suddenly asked, looking at Yakume. "It'll pass the time while we wait for your daughter and her friend to come down."

Yakume took a small sip of the tea that Kasumi had given her. "That sounds like a good idea. Very well, I guess I should start at the beginning," she giggled. "It was a week ago that we met. My daughter, Kagome, had just come home from…a friend's place. It was fairly late at night. Kagome came inside, followed by a boy I'd never seen before. She told me she'd found him just about to camp in our front yard; under our shrine's sacred tree."

"Sounds like Ryoga, alright…" Ranma muttered, just loud enough for everyone at the table to hear him.

Akane rolled her eyes at her fiancé's rude behaviour. "Would you stop picking on Ryoga?" she demanded angrily. Ranma huffed, but didn't reply.

Yakume gave a small, polite cough. "Yes, anyway…Kagome asked me if he could stay the night. I said yes of course. The poor boy looked dead on his feet! I'd just finished fixing up the couch for him to lie on when he collapsed. My daughter's quite good with injuries and things, so she checked him over for me as I was quite worried by then. He was unconscious, but she said he'd be fine. He was a little malnourished and completely exhausted. We managed to lift him onto the couch and he was out all night."

"He fainted?" Akane said with a small gasp. "He really should try to take better care of himself when he's wandering all over the place. No wonder he collapsed…" Kasumi had a worried frown creasing her face, apparently sharing Akane's sentiments.

"When he woke up the next morning, Kagome and I managed to get a few answers from him. We thought he'd run away from somewhere, you see," Yakume continued. "He told us that he was simply lost and asked us if we could point him in the direction of Nerima. After he'd finished breakfast I told him I knew which way it was. He was about to leave, but I wouldn't let him. Walking all the way here in the condition he was in? How responsible would I be if I let him go?"

Everyone, bar Soun and Genma, were listening with rapt attention though Ranma was trying to hide it.

"I told him he was going to be staying with us until I deemed him fit for travel. He started sputtering then, saying he couldn't impose on us anymore than he already had. I waved his protests away. He ended up staying that night as well. He'd try and help as much as he could around the house and we invariably wound up chatting. I grew quite fond of him, to tell the truth. He had completely recovered by that night. So fast!" she exclaimed, shaking her head in bemusement. "After lunch on Sunday, I declared him fit. I gave him our phone number and he promised to stay in touch and tell me of his travels. Then he left and the first thing I hear is that he's ill…" she trailed off sadly.

"So _that's_ what he meant!" Ranma suddenly blurted.

"What did who mean?" Akane asked, staring at him in bafflement. She wasn't the only one, either.

"Ryoga, that's who. Just before he passed out I heard him say something. It was pretty soft though, so I dunno if you heard it or not. He said 'I promised to call'."

"So that's the thing he said he had to do…" Nabiki added.

Yakume was awed at this. _'That poor boy is very ill and all he thinks about is calling me?'_ She discreetly wiped a tear away with her sleeve.

* * *

"Not completely human? Can you explain what you mean?" Kagome asked her companion.

Inuyasha frowned, trying to find a way to sort everything out. "You told me that he turned into a dog when he was hit with cold water, right?"

Kagome nodded, unsure at what he was getting at.

"He didn't turn into a dog," he stated bluntly. "They must've thought he was a dog." Kagome raised an eyebrow at him inquiringly. "He stinks of wolf."

"Wolf? So he turned into a wolf then?"

"Yeah, but that's not the strange part…"

"How can you get much stranger than that?" Kagome asked in disbelief. _'I know I've seen a lot of weird things…and I know Miroku has a curse, but…'_

"He kinda smells like that mangy wolf, Koga. But how?"

As soon as he said that, Kagome had an idea. "Koga? Well, maybe Ryoga is his reincarnation - wait, Koga's not dead - or descendent or something? I know when _we_ first met, you said I smelled like Kikyo."

Inuyasha mulled all this over in his mind. "I suppose it IS a possibility…"

* * *

Ryoga could hear muffled voices. Patiently he waited for his brain to speed up enough to clear the sounds into understandable words. After a minute or so, he could hear them properly. _'Wait…that sounds like Kagome! What is she doing here? I know for sure I made it to the Tendo's!'_ he thought wildly. His mind screeched to a halt about Kagome when he heard a male voice answer her. _'Who is that? It doesn't sound like anyone I know from Nerima…'_ His train of thought was shattered when he caught the unknown guy's words.

"He kinda smells like that mangy wolf, Koga. But how?"

'_I smell like a wolf? Did I turn into a wolf and not a dog like we all thought? Wait, how can he __**smell**__ wolf?'_ Ryoga asked himself. He found no real answer, so he decided to listen to Kagome and whoever was with her.

"Koga? Well, maybe Ryoga is his reincarnation - wait, Koga's not dead - or descendent or something? I know when _we_ first met, you said I smelled like Kikyo."

'_What? Okay, that makes no sense at all…'_

"I suppose it IS a possibility…"

Now thoroughly confused and desperate to find out what they meant, he blearily opened his eyes. He was about to say something but found that his throat was far too dry; it felt like old parchment. His attempt at speaking instead turned into a couple of scratchy coughs.

It succeeded in drawing the attention of the two sitting on either side of him at any rate.

"Ryoga? Are you feeling well enough to speak?" Kagome asked him softly. Watching Ryoga try to say something, she realised what was wrong. "Oh! Ssshh, don't say anything yet. I'll go get you a drink of water, okay?"

Gratitude shone in the Lost Boy's eyes as he managed a tiny nod. Kagome smiled and left.

She walked quickly down the stairs and, following the sound of voices, emerged into the Tendo's living room. She felt a little like a deer caught in the headlights as all but two of the room's occupants turned their gaze to her, clearly waiting for her to speak.

"Oh, honey, is he awake? Did you need something?" her mother rattled off.

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, he's awake. I came down to get him a drink because he looks like he needs it."

"Please wait there a moment," Kasumi said before walking off. She returned a few seconds later with a simple glass of water. "Here you go."

The priestess flashed Kasumi a smile, a quick, "Thankyou!" and carefully jogged back up the stairs.

* * *

Inuyasha was still studying the strange-smelling boy in front of him. The penetrating look of concentration was making Ryoga a little uncomfortable.

"Wh…what?" he managed to croak.

"What are you?" Inuyasha ground out.

'_What am I? What kinda question is that? Jeez, I know my canine teeth are long enough to look like fangs, but…'_ Ryoga settled for sending the unknown guy a semi-glare mixed with confusion. With the thought of fangs still in his mind, he suddenly caught sight of Inuyasha's. This only served to further confuse him. Startled by this, he took in the stranger's appearance. _'Okay, so this guy has fangs as well… Why's he getting on my case then? Hmm…yellow eyes? I've never seen someone with yellow eyes before…maybe they're contact lenses? And his hair! Long and silvery-white? He must bleach it or something. Plus he's wearing clothing that looks very old-fashioned. Like hundreds of years ago old! Well, except for the baseball cap…'_

Before he could ask Inuyasha anything, the door was slid open to reveal Kagome. She knelt down to the spot she had sat at before and held the cup to Ryoga's lips, tilting it slightly. Taking a few gulps really helped to ease his throat and he sighed in relief. "Thanks…" he said softly.

Inuyasha was starting to feel a little jealous. _'He hasn't actually made a move on her though… If he does…!'_ he let the threat hang in his own mind.

"So, Ryoga. Can't we meet when you're well?" Kagome joked. She got an embarrassed grin in return. "Oh, this is Inuyasha. A girl named Nabiki called the shrine and told mum what happened. We hurried right over. Inuyasha and I came to see if we could help you with your curse…" she trailed off, awaiting his reaction.

'_So this is that Inuyasha person her little brother mistook me for? Wait -' _his thoughts abruptly cut off. "Nabiki went through my stuff?!" he half-shouted, half-demanded.

"Um, I don't really know. You'll have to ask her…" the fifteen year old girl cautiously answered. It looked as though the bandanna-clad boy wanted nothing more than to confront Nabiki about the issue right then.

Inuyasha had finally figured out the various scents. _'That's it! He DOES smell like Koga, wolf AND demon! I could smell both those scents more clearly when Kagome said his name… Could that be a clue?'_ Inuyasha effectively subdued the angry martial artist with a menacing glare, fangs bared and all.

"Inuyasha…?" Kagome asked slowly.

"Hey, Kagome…I have an idea," he said in answer.

"You do? What is it?" came her eager inquiry.

"I want you to say his name; his full name. I want you to maintain eye contact when ya do this and use your powers."

Kagome and Ryoga both stared at him. The former was a little taken aback by the strange request while the latter barely understood any of it.

"Huh?" they both eloquently replied, simultaneously.

Inuyasha gave an irritated sigh. "Would ya just do it, ya stubborn girl?" he growled at Kagome.

"Sheesh, alright already!"

Inuyasha scooted behind the Lost Boy and propped him up so he sat at eye level with Kagome. Ryoga wanted to object to this manhandling, but when Kagome stared right into his eyes his angry retorts died on his lips. He was far too curious about what this would accomplish.

Kagome was wondering the same thing, but she had faith in the half-demon. "Ryoga Hibiki," she said loudly and clearly, putting some of her spiritual power into her voice.

Time seemed to slow down rapidly for Ryoga as soon as the last syllable was spoken. His head hung down. Everything seemed to come to his senses louder and clearer than ever before. He had no time to dwell on this, however, as a sudden pulse wave of energy swept through his entire being. It was unlike any energy he had come across, except for the long-haired guy. He hadn't noticed it before, but Inuyasha's energy was different from a normal person's. That same strange energy now pulsed through him again. He could feel his body changing, shifting around. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't very pleasant either.

Inuyasha had let go of Ryoga as soon as Kagome had said his name. Both of them now watched as the boy pulsed, just like Inuyasha did when he transformed on the new moon. Once the energy settled down, Inuyasha moved to sit next to Kagome. He gave her a smug grin. "Hah, I was right…the kid's part wolf-demon. I think he's half; like me."

Indeed, Ryoga's ears had vanished to be replaced by two black furry triangles poking through his hair. His fingernails had become claw-like, exactly like Inuyasha's. Kagome stared in fascination.

"Half wolf-demon…?" Ryoga repeated, too stunned at the new, vivid way the world around him had become to say much more. His fever had disappeared also.

"You mean you didn't know?" Kagome asked in bewilderment. Ryoga shook his head, finally daring to look up.

A swift sliding noise and a very surprised sounding, "What the…?!" made all three whip their heads around to the now-open doorway. Ranma was standing there, stunned, with everyone else behind him.

* * *

"So that's why you were a girl and your father was a panda!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed. "Well, now I know to stay away from this Jusenkyo place."

"Yeah," Ranma said in complete agreement. "There's a couple more cursed people around. Mousse and Shampoo both went to Jusenkyo, too. Mousse turns into a duck and Shampoo turns into a…"

"A cat," Akane finished for him after he fell silent. "So if you see a white duck with glasses or a pinkish-purple-furred cat, it's just them."

Kagome's mother simply nodded. "We'll have to tell this to Kagome, it might help her out."

"I know you told me she's a priestess, but does she actually have any spiritual power?" Nabiki asked her, slightly sceptical.

"Yes, she does. She goes around many places with Inuyasha and they do a lot of stuff to help people," Yakume said, pride evident in her voice.

Nabiki was now eager to see if they helped Ryoga upstairs. _'If they did…then who's to say they can't help anyone else who's cursed here? I'm sure I could get Shampoo and Mousse to pay for that little bit of info…'_ Her train of thought was brought to a halt as Ranma, Soun and Genma suddenly sat ramrod straight, completely rigid.

"What's wrong?" Kasumi asked the three.

"Did you feel that, Saotome?" Soun said, a serious expression adorning his face.

"Indeed I did, Tendo. What could have caused it?" the half-panda replied, equally as serious.

Yakume, Nabiki, Kasumi and Akane were left in the dark. Akane, being the inquisitive girl she is, asked Ranma. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I just felt a cold pulse of weird energy rip through the air…" he answered slowly. _'Wait, this is the same kind of freaky energy that Inuyasha guy has!'_ He abruptly stood up, quickly followed by his father and Mr. Tendo. He made a mad dash for the stairs, the two older males right on his heels. The females were left sitting there, blinking in shock for a few seconds, before they headed after the guys.

Ranma had skidded to a halt and slid the door open. He was not prepared for the sight that met his eyes. There, sitting up in front of the two younger guests, was Ryoga. Only he looked a bit different… _'He looks like he's partway between transforming to his new cursed form!'_ The only words that escaped him though were, "What the…?!"

* * *

"Uh…" was all Ryoga managed before Kagome hushed Ranma.

"Listen, don't go flying off the handle, I can explain this," she said, giving the pigtailed boy a stern glare. Ranma took a step back from the intimidating girl.

"Why don't we all head back to the table and I'll make us some tea while we talk?" Kasumi suggested, instantly diffusing the tense atmosphere that had sprung up. Everyone shambled back downstairs, including Ranma.

Kagome turned to face Ryoga. "Do you feel well enough to move?" she asked him nicely.

"Actually, I feel completely fine…" he responded.

Inuyasha gave her a quick nod to show her that Ryoga was telling the truth. Kagome sighed at the thought of the explanations that her and Inuyasha were about to divulge. "Come on then, we may as well go down now. The sooner this is over, the quicker we can all move on, right?"

As soon as Ryoga stood he became aware of something else. Taking a quick glance behind him, he didn't see anything wrong. However, something was tickling the back of one his legs.

Inuyasha had noticed his subtle fidgeting. "What's the matter?" he asked gruffly as soon as Kagome had disappeared around the hallway corner.

Ryoga flashed him a look of surprise mingled with confusion and a faint trace of embarrassment.

"It's okay, y'know. I'm half dog-demon," Inuyasha stated, trying to mollify the Lost Boy. To prove it he whipped off his cap, showing Ryoga two white, fuzzy triangular ears. Ryoga gave him a brief look of comprehension before smiling. Inuyasha gave him a small smirk before putting his cap back on.

"It's just…I think I have a tail…" Inuyasha simply blinked at him. "There's something furry tickling the back of my leg and I think it's a tail…and it's kinda uncomfortable…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"Really?" Inuyasha asked in vague surprise. Ryoga just nodded, blushing slightly in embarrassment. "Oh… Why don't ya use your claws to put a slit in the back of your clothes?"

The newly discovered half-demon grinned. "Why didn't I think of that? Thanks!" That said, Ryoga carefully put a small slit in the back of his pants. With a bit of squirming, he managed to pull his black, furry tail through the gap. "Much better…" he muttered in relief.

"Now you ready?" asked Inuyasha in a gruff tone that had no real sting behind it. Ryoga nodded and the two half-demons descended to the living room.

They could hear Kagome. "I thought they were right behind me!" she said, obviously in defence to an accusatory question.

"We were," huffed Inuyasha. "We just had to take care of something first."

At the sight of the silvery-white haired half-demon, everyone had become quiet. Inuyasha ignored the inquisitive stares and pulled Ryoga inside the room to sit beside him; Kagome on the half-dog's other side.

Kagome rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well, now that we're ALL here…"

"Oh, Ryoga, what adorable ears!" her mother squealed, interrupting her. Yakume shuffled next to Ryoga and gently caught one of his ears in between her fingers. Giggling like a schoolgirl, she rubbed her fingers in smooth circles.

The effect this had on Ryoga was quite interesting to watch as they were all gawking at him. Ryoga had swiftly tilted his head towards Yakume. His eyes were half-closed and a silly grin had plastered itself on his face. _'Oh, wow… This feels sooo good!'_ he thought, lost in the pleasant sensation.

Nabiki had an eye for details that were in the background and not immediately noticeable. Because of this, she was the first to spot a tail slowly wagging from side to side behind Ryoga. "Is that a tail?" she asked, shattering the odd moment.

"Hey, it is…" Akane said in amusement.

Kagome was getting a little annoyed by the delay. The sun had just set, so she knew they would end up staying here the night, but she also wanted to get this over with quickly. They still had to find Naraku, after all. The Shikon Jewel only needed three more shards to be whole again; the one held by her and the two that Koga had in his legs. She cleared her throat with a cough. "Ahem. Do you want us to explain or not?"

"Oh, sorry dear!" her mother exclaimed, stopping her gentle ministrations to the Lost Boy's ears. This had the effect of not only stopping Yakume, but snapping Ryoga out of his dreamlike state.

"Huh? Wha…?" Realising what had happened, Ryoga blushed a deep crimson and wished the ground would swallow him up. He ducked his head so he wouldn't have to face their gazes.

"Anyway," Kagome said, trying to drown out her own thoughts of how much Inuyasha might enjoy his ears rubbed like that, "I suppose we should start with something easy. The reason Ryoga now has furry ears…and a tail, is because he's half wolf-demon." She had to brace herself for the veritable deluge of exclamations that followed this.

"Oh, my!" gasped Kasumi.

"Really? How interesting…can he howl?" Nabiki asked. Ryoga blinked a bit at this question.

"Half wolf-demon? What do you mean?" inquired Akane, a little confused.

"A demon, did you say? You don't think she means like the Master do you, Saotome?" Soun asked anxiously.

"Demon?" Genma echoed nervously. "I hope not, Tendo old friend!"

"What?" Ranma said for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He sent Ryoga and Inuyasha a furtive glance, as though trying to figure something out.

"Half? You mean like Inuyasha?" Yakume said, turning inquisitive eyes to her daughter. This question sent off another round.

"Like Inuyasha?"

"Does he have fuzzy ears and a tail, too?"

"What do you mean by 'half'?"

"Another one!?" Soun and Genma said simultaneously, now worried that all this talk of demons would summon the ancient pervert known as Happosai.

"I knew it!" Ranma shouted in triumph.

"Excuse me!" Kagome said loudly, feeling a headache coming on. The others fell silent immediately, self-preservation instincts kicking in. "Thankyou," she huffed irritably. "First, a half-demon is someone who is just that; half. Inuyasha and Ryoga are both half-human, half-demon. Second, no Inuyasha doesn't have a tail but he does have fuzzy ears, hence the reason he's wearing a cap."

Inuyasha, who knew of Kagome's scary temper, took the hat off once again, revealing his dog ears. He observed as the Dojo's residents all flicked their eyes towards his head for a brief moment. He gave them a low warning growl and bared his fangs. He allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk as they averted their eyes.

Kagome turned her attention to Nabiki. "As for howling, I have no idea. You'd have to ask Ryoga when he figures that out. He had no idea about this so asking him anything concerning it at this point would do you no good. Also, Ryoga's demon half is that of a wolf while Inuyasha's is that of a dog. Asking Inuyasha instead of Ryoga will accomplish the same result - nothing. Does that answer your questions?" Kagome demanded in a dangerously calm voice. The others swiftly nodded, not wanting to invoke the teen's wrath. "Good."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you going to do now?" Kasumi asked the three guests. And, by extension, Ryoga.

"It doesn't change a thing for me," Yakume announced, beaming brightly. "Though now, whenever I see him, I can pat his cute ears!" Ryoga blushed again at this reminder. "It's getting too late to be planning anything big, so why don't we leave it until tomorrow? You kids can work something out then, as I'm sure Ryoga would like to know more about being a half-demon."

"What!?" Inuyasha blurted suddenly. "We don't have time to play teacher! We have to get back!"

Kagome sighed. She didn't want to admit it, but Inuyasha was right. _'I do like Ryoga…he's become a friend to me, I think… But Inuyasha's right, we need to get back to our quest.'_ An interesting idea came to her, but it had a few holes, so she decided to sleep on it. "Inuyasha, stop getting so worked up. We'll be here for the night, so there's no sense in getting all huffy about it," she said, glaring at him.

"Feh," was his only response.

"I guess I should start getting tea ready then," said Kasumi, smiling as she stood up.

Yakume copied her action. "Why don't I help you, dear? It's the least I can do for all the fuss," she pleaded, wanting something to do.

"That's very nice of you! Of course you may. Do you know any good recipes?" Kasumi replied as the two walked off to the kitchen. Kagome got the impression that Kasumi and her mother would be in there for a while, becoming good friends.

Ryoga didn't utter a word beyond, "Thanks…" all through tea. When the time came to go to bed, Ranma led Ryoga to the Dojo. He unfolded his sleeping bag, bid the others goodnight, and fell straight asleep; worn out by all that had happened.

* * *

The sunlight filtered in through the dojo's windows, caressing the sleeping figures within. Inuyasha's eyelids fluttered open. It only took Inuyasha a minute to orient himself with his present location and remember what had happened that had led up to him being in a strange building. Taking stock of the situation, he discovered that he was the only one awake. Deciding to leave Kagome, her mother and the wolf-boy in their peaceful state of sleep, he left the dojo to find out if he could get breakfast.

Walking towards the house, he opened the back door that led into the kitchen. He jumped a little as a soft voice said, "Good morning!" Flicking his eyes to the side, Kasumi came into his line of sight. "I hope you slept well?" she asked with a cheerful smile.

"Uh, yeah…" he mumbled.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Inuyasha's ears perked up at the mention of food. Kasumi, taking in the eager look on his face, almost giggled at the scene. "I'm just starting it now. Would you like to use the bath while you wait?"

"Nah, 's okay. How long is it gonna be?" Kasumi's answer of 'about an hour' was not what he wanted to hear. Grumbling in resignation, he headed back to the dojo for lack of anything better to do. Kagome was waking up just as he stepped inside.

"Ugh, what time is it?" she gurgled blearily.

"I dunno…you got those weird things that tell ya, don't ya? You told me once after I accidentally broke yours…I think you called it a…click?"

Kagome giggled, now properly awake. "A clock, Inuyasha. It's called a clock. I would use one, but there isn't one in here. Is breakfast ready?" she asked, sitting up. Kagome had a healthy appreciation for Kasumi's culinary talents and was looking forward to sampling some more of it. Kasumi rivalled her mother's dishes, so if they worked together, like they did last night, she definitely wouldn't have any complaints. Speaking of her mother…

"Oh, I had the most interesting dream…" Yakume said, yawning. "I dreamt that we were with Ryoga, but he had ears like Inuyasha and a furry tail…" Her eyes widened as she looked around the dojo, stopping on Ryoga. A pleasantly surprised look came upon her face as she noticed the black, furry appendages poking through his hair. "Coming to Nerima and finding out he's half wolf-demon wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked jokingly.

"No, mum, it really happened. Now, you never told me if breakfast was ready…" she trailed off, giving Inuyasha a mock-glare.

"That Kasumi girl said it'd be ready 'bout an hour from now," he said, peering back at her. "She also said I could take a bath while I waited, but I said no, so I guess you two can take one if ya wanna."

"A bath? Sounds nice, don't you think, dear?" Yakume said, turning towards her daughter for an opinion. "I'd rather see if Kasumi could use a hand in the kitchen, though."

Kagome nodded. "I'd love a nice hot bath. I'll go ask Kasumi if I can have one," she said as she followed the path Inuyasha had taken to the back door a few minutes prior.

A moment later, they heard a male voice yelling accompanied immediately after by a loud splash. A few seconds of waiting and they heard a girl screaming something about alternative methods of waking someone up.

"That must be Ranma. Ryoga told me he knows how to fight, so why don't you go over and see if he-she at the moment, sorry, will spar with you hand-to-hand?" Yakume asked kindly, facing Inuyasha with an earnest expression.

"I don't really do hand-to-hand…" he muttered, not wanting to insult Kagome's mother. "Guess I'll go watch him fight with the old panda." He turned around and left, heading for the sounds of fighting that had begun. Therefore, he didn't see the knowing smile that crossed Mrs. Higurashi's face.

"Dear me, still sleeping. Well, I can't pass up an opportunity such as this!" Beaming brightly, Yakume sat by Ryoga's head and started to pet the ear that was sticking up. She watched as the corners of his lips twitched up into a small, dreamy smile. Yakume resolved to find out if Inuyasha liked his ears rubbed, too. _'Though I do believe he would much rather have Kagome do that instead!'_

_

* * *

_

'_What to do… Should I tell him my idea? I'm not even sure if it's such a good idea, myself. And if __**I**__ have doubts, of course he's not going to like it…'_ Kagome's mind was churning. The hot water was helping to relax her, but she was still feeling unsure. _'And even if, by some miracle, he agrees…I still have to ask Ryoga and what if HE doesn't like the idea? That'll get Inuyasha mad and then what'll happen if they start fighting? Well, no use thinking about all the 'what ifs'. Guess I'll just ask Ryoga first and if he says yes, THEN I'll ask Inuyasha. But even if that all works out, what if he can't…? Ugh!'_ Scowling darkly, Kagome rose out of the bath and reached for the towel Kasumi had gotten for her.

* * *

"Mmm…" Ryoga moaned in protest as the daylight called him back to reality. He had been having a bit of trouble falling asleep, but had eventually succumbed to its siren-like call. Surprisingly, he had slept better than he had in a while. He was unsure of what it was or where it came from, but he had felt…safe. _'Maybe it was caused by my heightened senses? I'll have a much easier time of avoiding any sort of ambush while I'm like this. But…will I be like this - half-demon - forever? Guess I'll ask Kagome and Inuyasha about it; they seem to know a lot. Well, considering Inuyasha's a half-demon himself…'_ His internal musings stalled as he took in the sensation of someone's fingers caressing one of his ears. Mentally shaking away the last of his sleepiness, he opened his eyes to identify whoever was intruding into his personal space.

"Oh, you're awake, sleepyhead!" Yakume brightly announced. Looking closely at Ryoga's face, she noticed his eyes seemed to be a different colour to what she remembered. Yakume decided to ask someone who knew him better to check if she was seeing things or not. She reluctantly pulled her hand back and let it rest in her lap. "Well, guess I should be off to the kitchen as I mentioned to Kagome earlier." She matched actions to words and left Ryoga to his own devices.

Still mulling all the recent changes over in his mind, Ryoga dragged himself out of his sleeping bag and trained his furry ears on the sparring that was going on between the two Saotome males. Tracking the noise, he managed to find his way to where they were with very little difficulty. He sat beside Inuyasha and decided to try and test out what he could do with his new heightened senses. He found it much easier to keep up with their moves with his eyes alone. He could hear every blow, the air whistling with the force, he could even hear the small, calculated breaths they were drawing.

"Hah, what's the matter? Old age catching up to you, Pop?" Ranma taunted, leaping over a kick and striking his father in the square of his back.

With an irritated growl, the panda clambered out of the pond and headed for the bath, throwing a disgruntled look at Ranma as he passed. As the cursed panda trudged up the stairs, he inclined his head to Kagome in a rough morning greeting.

Kagome nodded back and continued on her way, having spotted Inuyasha and Ryoga facing the backyard. "Hey," she said with a slightly strained smile.

Inuyasha simply gave her an incomprehensible grunt.

"Hey," Ryoga replied, giving her his undivided attention now that the sparring session had ended.

"Ryoga, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Kagome asked, shooting a hesitant glance at her silver-haired companion. He said nothing, so she went ahead with her plan.

Ryoga had a baffled but curious expression as he agreed to the request. He followed the young priestess around the corner of the house. When she stopped, he gazed at her expectantly.

"Sorry to drag you off like that, but there's something I want to ask you," she said, getting straight down to business.

"What is it?"

"I'm guessing you have a lot of questions about being half-demon, am I right?" Ryoga nodded an affirmative. "Well, Inuyasha and I could tell you a whole lot but we have to go back to do something very important, so we don't have the time. I think I may have found a way around that, but it might not work. Do you want to hear my idea?"

Ryoga, now paying rapt attention, was instantly intrigued. "Yes, I do."

"Okay, well, here goes…"

* * *

**A/N:** How was that? Another chapter over 7000 words long…whew… A big thankyou to **UpperClassK9** for being my wonderful beta! I'd be running around like a headless chicken without you!

Thanks again to those who reviewed, I cherish each one. I won't list you here as I reply to you all personally. Except those who review anonymously and leave no email address… So thankyou to all anon. reviewers!

Did you like it? Am I doing well so far? Argh, I need to know! Please tell me how I'm doing. Also, you'll have to review if you want more of the story. I don't want to write a fic if no one but me is going to appreciate it.

The little 'Go' button tempts you…give in to the temptation…


	3. A Dog Eat Dog World

**A/N:** I'm back! Sorry for taking so long, but I really wanted to get the 6th chapter of **Phantoms, Powers and Prophecies** finished before I worked on anything else. After I did finish it, I completed this chapter rather quickly…hopefully I get through the next chapter quickly. If you have any questions you'd like to ask, feel free to write them in your review or send me a PM. I love hearing from readers!

We had a huge storm here a month ago and it fried our modem, filter/splitter, phone cord and Network Adapter card. We only (FINALLY!) managed to re-establish the Internet earlier today. I am so, so sorry for the extra wait but it could not be helped.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Great news! My sister and I now own all seven seasons of Ranma ½! I do own the first movie, but I want it on DVD as the video's kinda old. Just the movies and the OVA's to go! (I own 2 OVA's as it is, but they're on video, too.) As wonderful as that is, I don't own to the rights to them. Or InuYasha.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"_Wolf speak/other"_

**Recap:**

"Ryoga, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Kagome asked, shooting a hesitant glance at her silver-haired companion. He said nothing, so she went ahead with her plan.

Ryoga had a baffled but curious expression as he agreed to the request. He followed the young priestess around the corner of the house. When she stopped, he gazed at her expectantly.

"Sorry to drag you off like that, but there's something I want to ask you," she said, getting straight down to business.

"What is it?"

"I'm guessing you have a lot of questions about being half-demon, am I right?" Ryoga nodded an affirmative. "Well, Inuyasha and I could tell you a whole lot but we have to go back to do something very important, so we don't have the time. I think I may have found a way around that, but it might not work. Do you want to hear my idea?"

Ryoga, now paying rapt attention, was instantly intrigued. "Yes, I do."

"Okay, well, here goes…"

* * *

Chapter Three: A Dog-Eat-Dog World

Ryoga waited as patiently as he could; tail slowly swishing back and forth.

Finally, Kagome spoke. "Well, I thought about it and here's what I came up with. If you want, you could see if you can come with us. See, Inuyasha is actually from five hundred years in the past. There's a well on the shrine grounds that links this time to the Feudal Era. Some crazy demon burst out of it and dragged me down there on my fifteenth birthday. I've been going back and forth between times ever since." She stopped there, awaiting his reaction to her tale.

The bandanna-clad boy stood there, not quite knowing what to say. "Really? I knew his clothes looked really old-fashioned, but…"

"But you never thought that such a reason was behind it?" Kagome supplied.

"Uh, yeah…"

"I can see why you'd think that. It took me a while to get used to the idea myself. Only Inuyasha and I can pass through the well though so, even if you like my idea, it might not let you through."

"Well, it sounds like a good idea to me. That way, you two can do whatever is you do back in…the Feudal Era…and I can learn whatever I need to!" Ryoga replied, smiling at Kagome. "As for this well…I guess we won't know if I can go through it or not until I try, right?"

"Right!" Kagome chirped, smiling back. "Now I just have to ask Inuyasha if he agrees…" Leaving Ryoga there, Kagome walked back around the corner to confront her half-dog friend.

* * *

"WHAT?" Inuyasha exploded, staring at Kagome as if she was crazy; which, at that moment, he thought she was.

"Would you just listen to the whole thing before you -"

"You wanna drag some guy we practically know nothin' about back with us? You don't even know if he can get through!"

"Would you please just -"

"He'd slow us down; get in the way! He has no idea how to use his demon powers! He'd be of no use to us at all!" Inuyasha continued, drowning out Kagome's voice.

Drawing a deep breath, Kagome shouted, "SIT BOY!" and watched with satisfaction as it effectively shut him up long enough for her to get a word in edgewise. "Good, now pay attention. I'm not sure if he'll be able to cross through the well, so we'll just have to wait and see. If he can, don't worry about him not being able to fight. I've seen him practising in my yard and he's just as good, if not maybe a little better, than Sango."

Inuyasha sent her a disbelieving look.

"Come on, Inuyasha, please? If he can't go through the well, I won't bring this up again because there'll be no point. But if he can…just consider it, okay? I know he's a good fighter if he fights as well as he practices," Kagome continued in a wheedling manner.

"Fine," Inuyasha snarled. "I'll _consider _it IF, and only IF, he can."

Kagome flashed him a winning smile and bounced away to tell Ryoga.

'_Why do I suddenly get the feeling that this is going to become a little complicated?' _the silver-haired warrior thought with a sigh.

* * *

Crouching on the roof like a cat tensing itself up to jump down, Ranma's mind began processing all the information it had just received. _'A well that leads five hundred years into the past? And that dog guy is from that time? Now that priestess girl wants Ryoga to go back there with them. That Inuyasha guy is even gonna teach Ryoga how to use some supposed powers he now has!'_ Ranma thought in indignation. _'Ryoga's gonna outstrip me for sure if he trains with them! I have to follow, watch what he learns so I can counter it…'_ That decided Ranma silently slipped off the roof - already planning ways to follow along without being caught.

* * *

Ryoga had meandered away from where Kagome had dragged him and was now sitting in front of the koi pond, staring at the water as if it would fix all of his troubles. If the well let him through, it might very well change his life. _'Am I ready to face what comes?' _he silently asked his reflection. He could see his emotions staring fixedly back at him from the reflection of his eyes. Confusion, worry and anxiousness were all present. He could also discern a small glimmer of hope. _'Maybe this is just what I need to get out of this rut I seem to be stuck in?'_ His musings were interrupted as Kasumi and Mrs. Higurashi announced that breakfast was ready. He pushed his earlier train of thought to the back of his mind and stood up. "Coming!"

Breakfast was a comfortable affair for the most part. A couple of people, mostly Nabiki, kept flicking their gazes towards Ryoga. He tried his best to ignore the surreptitious glances, but they made him nervous and he started getting fidgety.

Yakume had noticed and decided to take pity on the teen. She tried to draw Nabiki's attention towards herself instead. "So, I guess we will be heading back today. Thankyou for all your hospitality, we are very grateful. We never did discuss how much the payment would be, did we?" she said, directing the question at the middle Tendo daughter.

"No, we didn't," Nabiki said, her eyes now on Yakume and a small notepad that was lying on the table in front of her. "For only one night, and no damages, the total comes to fifteen thousand yen. Is that acceptable?" she asked in a brusque, business-like tone.

Yakume blinked and weighed this amount in her head. "With meals and baths included, that seems like a reasonable price. Here you are." Smiling gently, she dug through her purse, pulled out a small bundle of notes and set them on the table.

Nabiki thumbed through them, double-checking the amount. "All in order. We were glad to have you here."

As this verbal and monetary exchange was taking place, Kagome just realised that she hadn't informed her mother of her plan. _'Oops,' _she thought, mentally admonishing herself for overlooking such a thing. "Oh, mum?" she said, wondering how to word this.

"Yes, what is it, dear?"

"Well…see, I had this idea. I thought it would be really good for Ryoga to learn how to use his demonic powers. If he tried to learn them by himself, it could end badly! So, I thought maybe he could come back to the shrine with us for a while. You know, while Inuyasha's visiting and all?" she finished tentatively, wondering if her mother would pick up the hidden message behind her words.

Yakume knew there must be an underlying message, but she felt at sea when trying to figure out exactly what it was. _'Does she mean she wants to take Ryoga through the well? Or does she intend to have Inuyasha stay for a few days to teach him?'_ Thinking it would be a lot safer to just go along for the moment, she nodded. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, honey! You can come back with us in the car; I don't want you doing anything too strenuous for a while just in case you have a relapse. I don't want to take any chances, is that understood young man?" she finished with a motherly tone of finality.

"Yes, ma'am!" the Lost Boy said, almost squeaking it out. He wasn't used to being spoken to by a motherly figure in such a way. At least, he hadn't in many, many months since the last time he had seen his own mother.

"Very good. We'll be taking our leave as soon as you're ready, Ryoga," she said, smiling in satisfaction.

"Hmm? Oh, okay, I'll have all my things packed in a minute. Be right back!" he said. He was headed for the doorway when he stopped and turned to his left. He flashed an embarrassed grin as he heaved his backpack on. Nobody had moved it from where he had set it down, so it was still by the doorway. Ryoga had thought someone must have taken it to the room he had been in so he had headed there, not noticing his pack until he had just stepped past it.

Ranma was trying, but failing, to contain his laughter. He did manage to muffle it a bit though. Ryoga glared at him, willing the pig-tailed boy to spontaneously combust. Ranma, as he was glaring back, noticed something was a little off about Ryoga's face; and he didn't mean the ears. "Hey, I thought your eyes were dull, greyish-hued brown?"

Ryoga's glare quickly melted away. He simply stared instead. "Yeah, what of it?" he brusquely replied.

"Well, your eyes aren't a dull brown anymore, man." At this, Ryoga's ears pricked up with curiosity as everyone else suddenly looked at his eyes.

"Eyes don't just change colour like that! What d'you mean, exactly?" the half-demon snapped, trying to ignore the collective gazes focused on him. He suddenly felt like someone had turned a bright spotlight on him and it didn't sit well with him.

"Hey, Ranma's right!" Akane said after a few seconds.

"Oh, I just knew it!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed, smiling at the now-flustered boy.

Ranma smirked at having the upper hand over his rival. "Well," he said, drawing the word out unnecessarily, "what I mean is, they're still brown, but they don't have that dull, greyish hue to them anymore. They have a…yellow…hue to them…? Yellow?" he dumbly repeated, now frowning in confusion while looking at Inuyasha for answers. After confirming Inuyasha had amber-coloured eyes, Ranma concluded that it must be another demon thing.

"Yellow?" Ryoga repeated, also glancing at Inuyasha for answers.

Inuyasha didn't answer him; being occupied with trying to ignore people, but Yakume did. "Why, yes dear. They're quite a beautiful shade of honey-brown."

"Honey-brown? Are you serious?" if it had just been Ranma claiming such a thing, he would have dismissed it entirely. He trusted Yakume, however, so if she said it was true, then it must be. He had the sudden, irresistible urge to look in a mirror to see for himself.

Nabiki, correctly guessing his thoughts, pulled a small make-up mirror from her pocket. As to why she, of all people, had such a thing, no one was quite sure. Nabiki opened it and wordlessly stood in front of the Lost Boy, holding it at eye-level.

Gazing into the small mirror, Ryoga realised they were right. His eyes were still brown, but they had an amber hue, much like Inuyasha's, to them instead of a greyish one. They were, indeed, honey-brown. This had only just begun to sink in when Nabiki snapped the mirror shut and resumed her seat.

"Oh…" he lamely offered.

"You know, I coulda swore that your eyes were completely yellow when you were a wolf…" Ranma said, shattering the awkward moment. "I wasn't paying all that much attention 'cause I was tryin' to figure out what happened to you. But, yeah, now that I think back, they were just yellow."

Ryoga was now more inclined to listen to Ranma, so did not dismiss that piece of information. He, instead, filed it away for later perusal. "Hey, did you put everything back where you found it?" he said, suddenly switching topics as he rounded on Nabiki, fixing her with a flat, unhappy glare.

"Yes, I did. I only removed the box in the right-side pocket. I placed the phone number back in the box and packed it away again after I called the Higurashi Shrine," Nabiki, unruffled by the look, replied in a calm, even manner.

With the wind taken out of his sails, Ryoga let the matter rest. "Alright then, I'm ready."

Yakume nodded and stood, Kagome and Inuyasha following her lead. "Good, good. We'll be going now, then. Thankyou again for your hospitality. Farewell and may good fortune stay with you all." That said, she allowed Kasumi to accompany them to the front gate. They all said one last goodbye to the eldest Tendo daughter and headed for the car, Ryoga following the others.

They had just reached it when a figure came dashing down the street. When the mysterious person came closer, Ryoga instantly recognised her. He tried to lay his ears as flat against his head as they would go, hopefully they were hidden by his hair, and moved his legs together to hide his tail. After the girl had spotted them and walked over, he realised it was a futile effort. _'Ranma and the Tendo's would end up telling her anyway.'_

"Hey sugar, haven't seen you in a while. You haven't been fighting with my Ran-chan have you?" Ukyo asked, managing to sound friendly yet firm at once.

"Not really…I mean, we had a small scuffle yesterday, but that ended quickly after we both fell in the canal," he said, managing to put on a slightly affronted expression, as though Ukyo's question had offended him.

"You don't look hurt, so I guess it wasn't serious or you'd have a lot of bumps and bruises," the chef happily chirped.

"Hey!" Ryoga cried in outrage, now offended for real. Unfortunately, this had the side effect of raising his ears stiffly in response to his anger. What _was_ fortunate for him was that Ukyo didn't notice as she was looking at the three people he was with.

"Sugar, you're a little lacking at the intros. Hello, I'm Ukyo Kuonji, I run Ucchan's Okonomiyaki," she cheerfully announced, giving a small, polite bow.

"Your own business? My, what is it with you young people and your desire to do things yourself? That's very impressive all the same, Miss Kuonji. I'm Yakume Higurashi, this is my daughter Kagome and her friend Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi replied, polite but exasperated by the attitudes of teenagers.

"Sugar?" Inuyasha whispered to Kagome in complete bafflement. "Why is she calling him that?"

"I have no idea," the priestess whispered back. "It might be just something she calls her friends or some kind of pet name. Funny, I don't remember Ryoga saying he had a girlfriend…"

Ryoga, with his new, sharp hearing, had caught every word. "Ukyo calls lots of people that, not just me. Also, I don't have a girlfriend, Ukyo is one of Ranma's fiancées," he said in a low voice that was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Oh, oops…sorry, Ryoga," Kagome said sheepishly, a guilty look on her face. She elbowed Inuyasha in the ribs, prompting him to apologise also.

"Feh!"

Yakume was bursting to ask Ryoga about his new senses, as she doubted that Inuyasha would tell her, but she held her tongue as Ukyo was still standing there.

The chef was looking a little lost midst that last exchange, however. She was puzzled, as she hadn't heard the whispers and so thought that Ryoga was simply speaking out. "One of?" she huffed, trying to regain her composure, "there may be three of us, but I am Ranma-honey's true fiancée!" she fiercely declared. "Are you saying that Akane or that Chinese hussy have moved in on MY Ran-chan? Well?"

Ryoga knew that he was treading extremely dangerous waters. One wrong word could result in disaster. _'Where do girls get these crazy ideas? They seem to pull them out of thin air! I never once mentioned Akane or Shampoo!'_

As Ryoga was engaged in the futile effort of trying to figure out how girls' minds worked, Ukyo took his silence as a confirmation of her worst fears. "Oh no, they didn't! Where's Ranma now? Dammit Ryoga, you better tell me where Ran-chan is or so help me, you jackass…!" She set down the box she had been carrying and grabbed her battle spatula off her back. She held it in front of herself and glared at Ryoga threateningly.

The half wolf-demon raised his hands in a warding gesture as his mind raced to find words that would hopefully pacify the irate chef. "Wait, Ukyo, you've got it all wrong! I never said anything of the sort! I haven't seen Shampoo since I got back yesterday and Ranma's at the Tendo's right now! Akane IS with him, but she lives there, so it's no different from usual. Ranma's relationships haven't gone any further than they've ever been. There, are you happy now?" he finished, slumping a little after his outburst.

"Oh," she responded, getting out of her battle-ready stance and strapping her weapon back in place. She picked up her box and smiled at him. "Sorry about that, sugar. Guess I got a little carried away…I only came to bring Ranma-honey some of my okonomiyaki for lunch. Better do that before it gets any colder. It was nice seeing you again, Ryoga. Oh! And it was nice to meet you three. Bye!" Ukyo quickly went through the front gate, her cheeks stained red.

"Is everyone from this time weird?" Inuyasha muttered disbelievingly.

"Hey, speak for yourself! At least I've never come across a pervert like Miroku in this time!" Kagome retorted playfully.

Ryoga's eye twitched. "Pervert? Yes, you have, Kagome. Ranma's a pervert."

"Ranma?"

"Are you sure, dear? He didn't seem like one to me," Yakume added, frowning.

"Ha! That's just because you've never seen him cross-dressing or peeping!"

"What?" Kagome shrieked. Inuyasha was looking decidedly thunderous.

Ryoga gave her a sheepish grin. "Don't worry; you were safe because you paid to stay. Nabiki would have wrung him out and left him to dry if he did anything to you."

Kagome grumbled under her breath for a few seconds before accepting what he was saying. Nabiki had certainly struck her as the type that would do just that.

"You were lucky, though. It seems Happosai was missing. If he had been there, I can guarantee that you would not have left without being groped," he went on to finish solemnly. Kagome paled slightly and opened her mouth, perhaps to ask if he was joking, or perhaps to thank her lucky stars. She never said anything, though, but simply closed her mouth, walked around to the other side of the car and got into the front passenger seat.

Everyone took their cue from this and followed suit, Yakume driving and the two half-demons in the back.

* * *

"Hey, hey, look Grandpa, they're back!" Sota exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He had raced all the way home from school, eager to play with Inuyasha. It took all his will power not to dash to the car and ask his hero a million questions about what they had been doing while they were away. It was a good thing he didn't, as Inuyasha wasn't in the best of moods.

He hadn't said two words together since they had first gotten in the car. Ryoga had asked him a couple of questions about his new half-demon status, but he had only replied with a simple 'yes', 'no' or an unintelligible grunt. Ryoga had given up after several minutes of painfully one-sided conversation.

Kagome wasn't too worried about her dog-eared companion. _'He's never exactly been a great conversationalist. Still, he was a little more generous with his answers than he's being to Ryoga…'_ This thought had shed some light on the situation for the time-travelling girl. _'That must be it! Ryoga reminds him of Koga, so maybe he thinks that Ryoga will chase after me too. I doubt he would. I mean, he was living with me for an entire weekend and never went beyond any boundaries.'_ She had long since abandoned any thoughts of trying to understand what put Inuyasha in his current mood beyond that idea when they pulled into the driveway.

Kagome herself had been conversing with her mother for the majority of the trip. Yakume had recounted to her daughter all that Ranma and the Tendo's had told her. It was mostly about Jusenkyo, but that was fine by Kagome. It was a very enthralling subject and she was eager to witness Ryoga's transformation for herself. It had been a shock to see Ranma switch from female to male, and she knew Ranma's father switched from panda to human, and even that two others switched between human, duck and cat. As she had only seen Ranma transform, and only between human forms, it made Ryoga's transformation into a wolf that much more interesting to the priestess.

Kagome and her mother gladly left the confines of the car, eager to move their flaccid legs. Ryoga followed straight away. He had never been fond of cars. _'Too many accidents and tragedies occur with cars and other vehicles. You can't fatally injure someone by walking into them.' _Inuyasha exited the car with nary a change in countenance.

After exchanging the usual greetings, the Higurashi's, one Hibiki and Inuyasha all went indoors.

"What brings you back here, demon?" Grandpa demanded rather rudely once they had seated themselves comfortably in the lounge room.

"Father!" Yakume exclaimed in horror.

"Can you not see him? He arrived here the first time with fangs…now he returns looking even more animal than him!" the old man cried, pointing an accusing finger at Inuyasha. The half dog-demon glared, baring his fangs proudly, but remained silent after a warning look was shot at him courtesy of Kagome.

"Excuse me, sir, but I am only half-demon. What grudge do you bear against Ryoga Hibiki?" Ryoga asked in a politely restrained voice.

"Grandpa, leave Ryoga alone! He has done nothing to you, so why are you being like this?" Kagome loudly said, ashamed of his behaviour towards their guest. "You're not like this with Inuyasha! What makes Ryoga so different?"

Grandpa gave a loud huff and attempted to give his granddaughter a stern glare. The effect made him look more as if he was pouting than anything. "My dear Kagome, you don't understand… I'm merely trying to protect you from harm! Inuyasha has never appeared to be anything more than he is. This Hibiki boy, on the other hand, has. He told us he simply travelled a lot and got lost. What if that was just a clever lie to hide the fact that he goes around attacking shrines because they pose a threat to his demonic blood? You and I are very powerful spiritual beings! Together, you and I can easily wipe him out and that makes him afraid… So, in a clever ploy, he planned to befriend us, slowly bewitching our minds to believe whatever he says so he can destroy us when we let our guards down!"

Sota, who had been sitting there simply absorbing the conversation, looked aghast. The young boy whipped his head back and forth between his family members, their strange guest and his hero. It had been quite a sight to see when he realised that Ryoga was now like Inuyasha only with a tail as well. It had made him feel quite smug, as he had suggested that it was the truth behind his fangs shortly after Ryoga left.

"Father, how dare you say such slanderous things to our guest? You will apologise to him at once for accusing him of such outrageous acts!" Yakume half-shouted, not wanting this to dissolve into a shouting match.

"Stop," came a quiet, yet firm, command that was heard by all despite how low it was spoken. "I appreciate you defending me, but I can stand on my own two feet." Ryoga had his head bowed and his hair had fallen down over his eyes so no one could see his expression. "If you wish for me to leave," he said, rasing his honey-brown eyes to meet those of Kagome's grandfather, "you have only to say so and I will bother you no further."

"Ryoga!" Kagome gasped.

Inuyasha said nothing as he saw the raw determination in those eyes and knew Ryoga would keep his word. Being adept himself at hiding pain, he managed to catch the brief flicker of hurt that flashed across Ryoga's eyes._ 'Why does he feel the need for the old coot's approval? The guy's senile, so why should his opinion matter so much to you?'_

"No, you can't be serious!" Yakume exclaimed, almost on the verge of tears. It pained her to see her father, and someone she practically considered another son, fighting like this.

"I can see that taking that course of action would upset my family. I want to keep them safe AND happy. To that end, you may stay. But…I will be watching you very closely, boy!"

Ryoga said nothing in reply, but bowed his head once more, deliberately hiding his face this time.

Kagome, too upset at her grandfather to barely speak, instead turned to her mother. "We'll be outside if you need us. I just need to get my backpack." After her mother nodded, she headed up to her room to fetch her large, yellow pack.

"So," Mrs. Higurashi started, focusing on the two half-demons. "Are you attempting to try going through the well?"

"Uh, yes…Kagome thought it would be the best way for me to learn about my demon half. She said that this way, she and Inuyasha can continue doing what they do there and I'll still be able to have Inuyasha teach me. If the well won't let me through, that's okay, I'll just go back to travelling. I should probably try and find my parents and ask them about this…" Ryoga trailed off, just realising that his parents should know about this. _'Inuyasha and Kagome said that for me to be half-demon, that means that one of my parents is human and the other is a full demon… If that's true, then why didn't they tell me?'_

Oblivious to Ryoga's inner turmoil, Inuyasha gave a soft, "Feh," and stood. Kagome had returned, backpack on, and he was eager to get back. He was uncomfortable in this era, no matter how many times he had visited. This visit had been especially strange and he did not wish to repeat the experience.

"I'm ready," was all Kagome uttered. Ryoga rose and followed her, giving Yakume a grateful smile as he passed. Inuyasha brought up the rear. Sota scrambled after them, not wanting to be left out of what was happening.

* * *

Kagome paused to slide open the door that led to the well. She ushered the others inside, not surprised to see her little brother among them. "Well, here it is. You go first, Inuyasha and Ryoga; you go next. If he doesn't appear on your side, wait a couple of minutes and jump back through, okay?" she finished, directing the last bit solely to Inuyasha.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," he grumbled half-heartedly. Kagome handed him her backpack, which he accepted without complaint. Without glancing back, he leapt into the air, disappearing rapidly into the darkness until, to Ryoga's astonishment, a blue glow flared to life.

After the glow faded away, Ryoga peered over the lip of the wooden structure. He could find no trace of Inuyasha. _'That light must be what moves them back and forth through time,'_ he thought, fascinated by the phenomenon.

"You're up," Kagome said cheerily. Despite her tone, she was nervous. _'Will he make it through?'_ Sota was wondering much the same thing.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Ryoga said, swallowing reflexively out of nervous habit. Gripping the straps of his pack until his knuckles turned white, he put one hand on the edge closest to him. Taking a deep breath, he vaulted over it. With the wind whistling in his ears, he frantically prayed to whatever deities were listening that the well granted him passage. A faint light was shining against his eyelids. The curiosity overwhelmed him and he opened his eyes. All around him was blue light, streaked with lines of bright white. Before his mind could fully wrap itself around the experience, the light faded and his feet gently came down to make contact with the ground. A sudden bout of light-headedness hit him and he hastily sucked in a breath, feeling stupid for not noticing that he was still holding it. He heard a small chorus of birdsong and looked up. Inuyasha's inquiring, surprised face was poking over the edge of the well. Beyond that, he could clearly see blue sky. He almost sagged with giddy relief. _'The well let me pass!'_ he thought joyfully.

"Don't just stand there or Kagome will land on you!" Inuyasha barked down at him. Too happy to yell back, Ryoga bent his legs and pushed against the ground. He had misjudged his new strength, however, and made a very undignified landing, face down with his limbs sprawled. "Graceful," Inuyasha sarcastically remarked.

"Ha-ha, shut up. I'm just not used to this yet!" came his reply, muffled somewhat by the ground. He had only gotten as far as propping himself up on his elbows when Kagome clambered out of the well, having used the ladder that she placed there some time ago. Ryoga, in his excitement, had not seen it.

"I can't believe it let you through, this is wonderful! Oh, I'll have to introduce you to everyone!" Kagome gushed out before bouncing away in the direction of the village, snatching her backpack from Inuyasha as she passed him.

"How can she be scary enough to subdue everyone at the Tendo's yet skip away smiling like all is right in the world?" Ryoga asked Inuyasha, thoroughly perplexed.

"You get used to it after a while. Come on, before she yells at us for being slow." Inuyasha had only taken two steps before he stopped and faced Ryoga. He had a predatory-like glint in his eyes. "How fast are you, Hibiki?"

"How fast?" Ryoga repeated, mentally calculating in his head. "Well, if I wasn't a half-demon I could answer that a lot easier. As I stand now, I have no idea."

"How about a race to find out? Miroku can keep up with me for a bit, but he's only human. I always outlast him. Think of this as a chance to practice!"

"You want to race? Well…" Ryoga made doubly sure he was facing the same direction Kagome had vanished before drawing level with Inuyasha and crouching slightly in answer. "You'll have to make sure I don't get lost as you eat my dust!"

"Deal! Just don't come crying to me when I leave you sitting in the dirt!" Inuyasha instantly fired back.

"Ha, fat chance!"

"Ready?" Inuyasha asked, matching Ryoga's pose. "Go!"

The two half-demons burst forward, leaving a dust cloud from their take-off. Having no running experience in his new form, Ryoga quickly found himself struggling to keep up. Glancing surreptitiously at Inuyasha, Ryoga quickly studied the way the half dog-demon moved. Analysing each movement, Ryoga made small adjustments to his running pattern. After only a couple of seconds, he picked up the right way to move his muscles to achieve the same effect as Inuyasha's quick strides. Pleased with his success, he pushed himself harder.

Inuyasha flicked his gaze to the side, having heard Ryoga faltering slightly, only to see the black-haired boy draw level with him. With a feral grin, Inuyasha put on an extra burst of speed, daring Ryoga to match him.

Accepting the silent challenge, Ryoga willed his excess ki to flow to his legs. Feeling the rush of energy, he focused upon reinforcing his muscles. A victorious cry tore from his throat as the energy propelled him far enough to overtake Inuyasha.

Giving a startled squawk of surprise, Inuyasha barely managed to skid to a halt before he collided with the front of Kaede's hut.

Ryoga, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. His cry of dismay was cut short as a meaty thud sounded through the air and the wall shook under the force of the impact.

"What on Earth was that?" Sango yelled in panic from inside the hut.

Miroku's suave voice reached them next. "Fear not, dear Sango, for I shall lay your fears to rest by investigating the source of that which has disturbed you!"

"Give it a rest, already!" followed the exasperated voice of Shippo.

"Not without me, you don't, monk!" Sango said, angrily marching out of the hut with Hiraikotsu clutched firmly by its strap in one hand and Kirara on her shoulder. Her anger washed away when she spotted Kagome standing there. Walking over to the reincarnated priestess, Sango saw that she had an expression composed partly of disbelief, partly of worry and partly of suppressed laughter. "Welcome back, Kagome! Is everything all right?"

"Kagome!" yelled a blur of blue and orange before it jumped into her arms.

"Ah, you have returned, Lady Kagome!" Miroku said, blissfully slap-mark free. He examined her expression and, frowning, turned to where she was looking. The others noticed and followed his cue. They saw a humanoid shape, with a backpack as large as Kagome's, flat against the wall.

Ryoga gave a pitiful groan and slid down the wall. Twisting his body before he fell flat on his back, he ended up on his hands and knees, facing the startled group.

"Who are ye? Speak up, demon!" Kaede demanded from her doorway, her notched arrow pointing at his ribs. She was the only one who had noticed his tail so far.

"Demon?" Sango echoed, instantly gripping her boomerang's straps tighter.

"Ah, yes, do you see? He has ears similar to Inuyasha," Miroku added, indicating the furry, black appendages to the demon slayer.

"Wait Kaede, don't shoot him!" Kagome cried out, rushing forward to stand beside the old priestess.

Kaede lowered her bow and let the string slacken. "Ye know him, child?" She would have received an answer, too, if Inuyasha had not ambled over and interrupted.

"You're quick, I'll give you that. I dunno how you did it, but I gotta say…I think you need some practice at stopping!" Unable to hold it in any longer, both Inuyasha and Kagome burst out laughing.

"Yeah, you can laugh all you want…but I still beat you!" Ryoga said as he stood brushing off his clothes, grinning proudly despite the aches that the wall had seen fit to bestow upon him.

"I'm sorry for laughing, but I just couldn't help it! Are you okay, Ryoga?" Kagome managed to ask now that her laughter had subsided to sporadic giggling.

"Ryoga?" Miroku said, testing the name.

Sango had a look of dawning comprehension. "Wait, you mean the same Ryoga you told us you were going to try and help because of some curse?" Aforementioned boy blinked at this, but the fact that they knew didn't really bother him.

"Ye mean he is from your time, Kagome? The well let him through?" Kaede inquired, looking interested.

"Yes, he's from my time and yes, the well let him pass."

"Truly fascinating! To meet someone else from the future is interesting indeed, since only Inuyasha can go there…" Miroku said, trailing off as he walked around the bandanna-clad boy, examining him as if he was under a microscope. "A tail!" the monk suddenly exclaimed.

"Tail? Like Shippo's, you mean?"

"Not quite, my dear Sango. Like Koga's, actually."

"Koga? Wait, I've heard you two mention that name before…just who _is_ Koga?" the Lost Boy asked, facing the only two he knew out of the group.

"Mangy wimp of a flea-ridden wolf…!" Inuyasha growled under his breath. Ryoga still heard it, though.

"A wolf?"

Kagome glared at Inuyasha, correctly guessing that he was mumbling some type of insult. "He's a full wolf-demon," she stated.

Kaede gave Ryoga an appraising once-over. "Ye are a half wolf-demon, are ye not?" Ryoga nodded in reply. "I would appreciate it if you refrained from attempting to topple my home," she said, sounding stern but smiling all the while.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that…" he chuckled nervously.

"Come in then, I'm sure ye all must want to talk. Ye be just in time. Shippo, run to the stream and fetch some water for our soup," the old woman asked, looking at the young fox-demon. He quickly scampered away, knowing that the sooner he did as he was bid, the sooner he could join the others. He was hoping to return before they really started talking.

After they had all settled themselves around the cooking fire in Kaede's hut, Kagome and Ryoga leaving their backpacks in a corner, Kirara jumped down from her perch. The little two-tailed cat-demon sauntered over to inspect the new arrival. After a few cautionary sniffs, she gave a pleased mew and jumped on his lap. The others had open mouths at this display, as the only male Kirara had been so affectionate to was Shippo.

"Uh, hey there…little…kitty?" Ryoga said, uncertain as to what he should call the small creature. He hesitantly reached out a hand and began to stroke Kirara's fur.

Sango swiftly regained her composure. _'If Kirara trusts him like that, then we mustn't have anything to fear,'_ she reasoned. "She's my two-tailed cat-demon. Her name is Kirara," Sango explained to the bewildered boy.

"Oh, thank you…uh…"

"Sango."

"Right, thank you, Sango. Kirara, huh? I can just imagine Ranma's reaction if he saw you…he'd scream and stutter and curl into a pathetic, quivering heap on the floor. I wish you could meet him," Ryoga sighed wistfully. The wicked grin that adorned his face ruined any illusion of innocence that his sentence might have had.

"Would Ranma really do that?" Kagome asked in disbelief.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to admit this, he didn't seem like the type to be scared of a little cat."

"Are you kidding me? I'm being totally serious, you know. Ranma has quite the case of ailurophobia."

"A-loora-fo-bee-a…?" Sango mumbled, sounding out the strange, foreign-sounding word.

Ryoga, taking in the various looks of utter incomprehension, explained. "He's deathly afraid of any type of cat, even a common housecat."

The others were nodding in understanding when Shippo came running inside as fast as he could. Considering that the wooden pail he was using was about as big as he himself was, he couldn't see the ground in front of his footpaws. He let out a startled cry as he tripped on a pebble, the pail flying out of his grasp.

Ryoga, mouth open in a silent gasp, could only watch in morbid fascination as, in seemingly slow motion, the pail sailed straight at his head, curving gracefully in the air to dump its contents all over him. Screwing his eyes shut, he resigned himself to what would follow as he felt his body shift. Startled gasps and exclamations prompted him to open his eyes.

"Oh, so this is what Nabiki meant!" Kagome affirmed, mostly nodding to herself. She was staring at Ryoga with earnest interest, as were the others.

Kirara, who had had the good sense to jump clear of the water, mewed again. She stared inquisitively at the black wolf.

Ryoga, somehow, knew she was inquiring as to what happened. He could not understand her, but it came as more of an instinctual feeling. _"It's okay, Kirara, it's still me,"_ he said. To everyone else, however, it came across as a couple of soft barks. Kirara appeared reassured and bounded back over to him, rubbing against his left foreleg. Trying to ignore the others for as long as he could, he noticed his clothes piled around his paws. _'That didn't happen last time,'_ he thought, pondering the fickleness of Jusenkyo curses. He slowly rose to all fours and stepped out of his soaked clothes. Frowning, as well as a wolf can, he took each article of clothing in his teeth and laid it flat behind him to dry. He found the task easier than he ever did when he turned into a piglet. It helped being bigger and much less defenceless.

"So that's what you look like as a wolf, Hibiki? Not as bad as Koga's pack, at least. What is it with you wolves and your headbands?" Inuyasha said, blurting out the last sentence.

"_Bandanna! Ban-dann-a!"_ Ryoga cried in outrage, jumping to his paws. Of course, it sounded like a half-growl, half-howl to the others. Headband sounded far too girly for Ryoga's liking. Also, in all fairness, it WAS a bandanna, not a headband.

Inuyasha simply sat there, looking amused at his little verbal tantrum. It did nothing to soothe Ryoga's ruffled fur.

Kagome was sitting there, mumbling things aloud. "Now, what was it that reverses this? Ah, yes! Hot water!" she triumphantly announced. Looking around, her eyes alighted upon the few small puddles of water that was all that remained. "Oh…guess I'll go fetch some more. Oh, Shippo, are you alright? You didn't hurt your foot, did you?"

"No, no…I'm okay," the young fox-demon hesitantly replied, too focused on staring at Ryoga.

"Okay, then. I'll be back shortly," she said, standing up. Instead of walking out the door, however, the schoolgirl went over to stand in front of Ryoga. She peered at him closely, making him fidget. "Ranma was right," she suddenly said, picking up the pail. "Your eyes are a yellow-gold colour, no brown at all." Having got what she wanted, she left the hut; leaving an awkward silence behind.

'_Oh…so Ranma really WAS telling the truth. He lies to me so often that it's hard to discern when he actually IS being truthful to me,'_ Ryoga thought, bothered by that fact. He stayed silent, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. All he could do now was wait for Kagome to return and the water to become hot enough to trigger the change. _'I wonder what Inuyasha's going to teach me first? I know he was pretty adamant about me coming along, but he seems fine with it now. Wait, he's already taught me something! It's my ears that balance me when I'm running, not my arms. Moving them as I'm used to throws my centre off completely. I had to use my tail also…although Inuyasha can't teach me anything about it, as he doesn't have one. Who knew wolves relied so much on their tail as a kind of counterbalance? For changing direction, too. I'll have to get used to my tail in this form as well. I already know how to run on four legs from being a pig,'_ he thought, with a wry smile that being a pig helped him with anything.

Kagome re-entered the hut, the pail full once more and one of her drink bottles full, too. She handed the pail to Kaede, who poured the contents into the pot hanging over the fire, and crossed the floor until she was at her pack. Bending over, she rummaged inside it for something. Giving a happy, "Aha!" she sat back near the fire and set her little camping stove on the floor. Kagome poured the liquid into a small, metal cooking pot and set it on the stove, turning it on and grinning in a thoroughly pleased way.

Ryoga was suddenly filled with a bout of happiness. Wondering what brought about the feeling, he searched his mind. _'That must be it!'_ he mentally shouted, thinking back to when he was staring at the koi pond at the Tendo Dojo. _'I'm finally out of that seemingly endless rut! No more boring routine to inevitably follow!'_

"Hmm, and that Ukyo girl said Ryoga was lacking at intros…oops. Everyone, this is Ryoga Hibiki. He'll be travelling with us while Inuyasha teaches him how to be a half-demon. Ryoga, this is Sango; she's a demon slayer and you've already met Kirara. That's Miroku; he's a monk as you might have guessed. You already know Inuyasha, but that's Shippo, he's a full fox-demon. This is Kaede, the priestess of this village," she finished, having pointed to each in turn.

Ryoga gave a canine version of a bow. _'Yes, things are definitely looking brighter than they have for a long time!'_

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, still over 7000 words! Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter! I hope to hear from you again this chapter! -hugs-

15, 000 yen is roughly equivalent to 150 dollars in case anyone was wondering. I thought it seemed like a fair price.

You'd be surprised to find that the only thing in the chapter that was planned was Ryoga passing through the well. What possessed me to make Inuyasha issue a challenge for a race? Or for Ryoga to become close and personal with Kaede's wall? I have no idea, but I wish it'd stick around! I was laughing my head off as I wrote the wall-smacking scene.

I did want Ukyo to appear in this chapter, but the way I wrote it and they way I first planned it ended up quite different.

Did you notice the awful pun concerning the well scene? I didn't until I'd typed it. I'd stopped, re-read the couple of paragraphs I'd just typed, and almost banged my head on the desk once I got to it. It's actually quite hard to spot unless you're sharp at picking out details.

I have drawn Ryoga in his wolf form. All the pics are on my deviantART account. The links to each picture are in my profile.

**To make things a little easier for my readers, I have a new section on my profile where I'll be posting my progress for all my fics. If you wish to know how much of the next chapter I've completed, simply head there and scroll down until you find it.**

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Please review and tell what me you thought if you want more!

~FantomoDrako


	4. A Wolf's Place in the Pack

**A/N:** Hello readers! I proudly, and finally, present to you the fourth chapter. I hope you enjoy!

On a small note, I have changed the spelling of a couple of names. 'Kilala' is now spelt properly as 'Kirara' and 'Kouga' is now written as 'Koga'. They simply look better to me this way.

**Disclaimer:** I no own Airen - I mean Ranma - ½, InuYasha, or any other characters belonging to Rumiko Takahashi. (Besides, I'm a Ryoga fan-girl!)

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"_Wolf speak/other"_

* * *

**Chapter Four: A Wolf's Place in the Pack**

"Okay, that should be everything…"

Ranma had been very busy ever since the Higurashi's left with Ryoga. Ukyo had arrived barely five minutes after and things had gone downhill quickly. The chef had brought him some of her delicious okonomiyaki. Akane had taken great offence and had walloped him with the table. Ukyo had immediately become indignant at that treatment and had one hand on her spatula's handle, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. Kasumi had politely asked them to fight outside while Nabiki had announced that any damages would come out of Ukyo's pocket. With Ukyo's lifestyle, she could not afford Nabiki's damage costs and had backed down. She had said a quick goodbye to Ranma, urging him to visit her, and left.

After that small fiasco, Ranma had retreated to his room. He had just finished going over, and checking through, everything he needed and even a few extra things he packed just in case.

"Done! I better go tell everyone I'm going on a training trip to prepare for when Ryoga eventually gets back here. I'm…working on a new technique that I can only perfect if - if no one else is around to distract me! No, on second thought, I'll just leave a note. That way Akane can't come with me and our parents can't force me to take her along." Ranma had thought of this as his reason behind the trip. As nobody else at the Dojo knew about the time-warping well, he figured they'd accept his reason without fuss. Writing a quick note in his messy handwriting, he laid it on the cupboard in full view of the door. Hitching his pack more securely upon his shoulders, he opted to forego the stairs and instead leapt out the window. He landed as lightly as he could with his pack burdening him. A quick glance confirmed that he was alone. Smirking to himself, he jumped over the wall and roof-hopped in the direction of the part of Tokyo that the shrine was located; map held firmly in his hands.

"I'll follow you through that well and learn whatever you do and more!"

* * *

"Ryoga, what about your clothes? Ranma was still wearing his, but if you turn back like this…will you have any on?" Kagome asked while trying hard not to blush like the schoolgirl she was.

The black wolf, blushing beneath his fur, shook his head in the negative.

"What, so you'd be naked?" Inuyasha boldly asked, unconcerned with Ryoga's current predicament.

Ryoga's blush increased in intensity, thankfully hidden under his fur, and gave a short, sharp nod.

Kaede, being wise with the ways of the young, fetched a blanket and threw it over the embarrassed lupine. She carefully relieved Kagome of the pot and waited for Ryoga to turn his back to them. After he did, with directions from Kagome and Inuyasha, the old priestess poured the hot liquid onto Ryoga's head. She made sure to use all of it, enough to trigger the change.

Ryoga breathed a silent sigh of relief as his paws, snout and fur receded until he was back in his half-demon state. He noticed that everyone was still staring to some degree. "I'll explain the whole curse thing and me becoming a wolf later. And by later, I mean one night around a campfire when we have nothing to do or discuss," he stated sternly, making sure the others knew that the matter was not up for negotiation.

"I look forward to hearing about a phenomenon such as this…never before have I seen such a curse and such a cure!" Miroku said, trying to keep his expression as calm and collected as possible. The battle was not going well for him as his eyes clearly shone with childish fascination.

After awkwardly getting dressed while still covered by the blanket, Ryoga re-seated himself and wordlessly passed the warm, damp blanket back to Kaede's waiting hands. "Hey," he said suddenly, "there's something dark about you…an ominous presence is intermingled with your aura…" Ryoga cocked his head to one side and let one ear fall slightly as the other stood erect in the classic 'curious canine' pose as he stared inquiringly at the monk.

Miroku's eyebrows rose from this unexpected statement. "How many demons and priests have you been around for you to be able to sense such things?"

"I've been to many temples and shrines, but the only real demon I remember encountering before Inuyasha was a small oni. He ended up possessing me for short time, making me do mischievous things. Ranma, Mr. Tendo, myself and some others managed to seal him away in a box again, though."

"So there _are_ demons in our time?" Kagome asked, looking shocked. She had met the guardian of Sou'unga, who acted as its sheath, but that had come about because of the time-warping effects of the well.

Ryoga nodded. "Yes, though that's the only one I met. Ranma and Akane have battled a few others, or so they've told me. Something about cursed paintings and a scribbled panda…"

"So," Shippo piped up, puffing himself up and throwing out his little chest proudly, "how many monsters have you fought? _I've_ fought _lots_!"

"Feh! And I suppose you defeated the Band of Seven single-handed, too?" Inuyasha sneered, mocking Shippo's outrageous bragging.

Ryoga, filing the Band of Seven to the back of his mind to ask about later, replied to Shippo. "How many? Well, it'd be impossible for me to tell you. In only one of my many encounters, I was attacked by a large number of ghosts in a cave with Ukyo. I'm not sure of their numbers, but in that cavern alone, there would have easily been over a hundred spirits. When Ukyo and I finally defeated them all, we had strange scratch marks all over our arms and faces and a few burns. Then there was that phoenix that was perched on Kuno's head. I ended up helping Ranma and Akane to get rid of it. That was one ugly bird…"

Kaede gasped. "A phoenix, did ye say, child? A legendary bird of fire?"

"You saw a real phoenix? I thought they were just a myth!" Kagome exclaimed in disbelief.

"Uh…yeah, it was a real phoenix. It certainly wasn't as beautiful as people think. It wasn't born from any fire or ashes either," Ryoga said, feeling bad for probably puncturing Kagome's image of a phoenix.

"But, that's how all stories about phoenixes go! They burst into flame when they die and are reborn from the ashes!" announced Sango, not really believing what she was hearing. Ryoga, to her, was still very much a stranger. _'Kagome doesn't even really know him to any extent beyond his strange curse!'_

Ryoga looked taken aback. "Well, this one didn't. Kuno, this idiot from the same school as Ranma and Akane, bought a nest with an egg in it from a shop off an old man. Ranma somehow placed the nest on top of Kuno's head. The shop owner said that was how the phoenix hatched. Well, he was right. The only thing that came close to fire was a bright, blinding flash the bird would let off if you got too close. After we managed to get it to leave Kuno's head and fly away, it left a nest with another egg behind which the shop owner took and swore not to sell."

"Fascinating…!" Miroku said once again.

Sango felt slightly rebuffed and did not comment. Kirara, sensing her mistress' mood, hopped off Ryoga's lap with a small, farewell mew and bounded onto Sango's shoulder to nuzzle her cheek. The demon slayer smiled in silent gratitude to her furry friend.

Shippo, of course, had been rendered speechless. All of the fights he had planned to boast about felt cheap. He had been going to exaggerate certain parts and omit others, making it seem as if all would have been lost if not for him. The fact that - if one believed Ryoga - he had not only seen, but also battled, a legendary phoenix was something that outclassed anything Shippo had done.

Ryoga was getting fidgety again. It was so rare that he had someone listening to him intently, with no ulterior motives, that he was feeling a little overwhelmed. _'If I'm going to be travelling with these people, I have to learn to be comfortable around them. Things will eventually come to a boil over one thing or another if we can't accept each other's presence. None of us back in Nerima were truly comfortable around each other and look what kept happening,'_ he mentally told himself, thinking of Mousse, Shampoo, Ranma, Akane, Ukyo and the others. _'Whenever we met, even if it was just in passing, a fight of some kind was sure to follow. I mean, Ukyo drew her spatula against me and we were just talking!'_ The Lost Boy had become so wrapped up in his thoughts that it took him a minute to realise that everyone was discussing plans for their journey. Abashed, he started paying attention, trying to pick up the thread of the conversation.

"So, what do you think?"

Inuyasha bared his fangs in a silent snarl. "You actually wanna go lookin' for that mangy fleabag?"

"She has a point, Inuyasha," Miroku said calmly, trying to placate the irate half-demon. "We've been here in the village for a while now. Koga has been wandering the country with just Ginta and Hakkaku for company and back-up should the need arise. He holds the only other shards that Naraku does not."

"I agree with her also. Naraku would have much less chance of obtaining Koga's two shards if he was travelling with us. There is safety in numbers, Inuyasha. Our two groups could help each other in battle against any other tough foes we may encounter as well," Sango added diplomatically.

Inuyasha found that his protests held no real ground. Crossing his arms and giving a haughty huff, he gave in. He was determined to have the last word about the issue, however. "Fine, we'll let those three tag along. But Koga better keep away from Kagome, he always leads her into trouble!"

The others simply nodded while smiling on the inside. They knew the real reason Inuyasha was so adamant against Koga being near Kagome. Ryoga did not know, but by the sly looks the others were shooting the pair while they were not looking, he could hazard a guess.

"So, uh, how do we find this Koga guy and his buddies?" Ryoga ventured to ask.

Inuyasha turned his gaze to the other half-demon. "We don't," he bluntly answered. "He always finds us sooner or later."

"Oh, okay then, so we're just gonna traipse around until we cross paths then?" he fired back, frowning at the situation.

"Why, yes, I suppose we are. As frustrating as it is, there is no other way to find him. He is always travelling all over in search of the same enemy as us. We will inevitably meet somewhere along the way," Miroku said delicately.

"Really?" Ryoga asked, as he had been joking before, not expecting the answer he had received.

"It's a bit of a pain, but it really is the only way," Kagome affirmed.

Kaede, who had been stirring the pot occasionally so it wouldn't boil, announced that the soup was ready. Doling out a bowl to everyone, she poured one for herself and sat back, sipping thoughtfully from her spoon. "When will ye be departing?"

"Um…I don't know, I was wondering if it would be easier for Inuyasha to teach Ryoga here or if he could learn on the road," Kagome replied after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Feh!" Inuyasha said in response. "You can't learn to be a demon by standing still! It'd be better if he learnt stuff first-hand."

"First-hand? You mean you're going to let him learn his powers untested in battle!? Do you have any idea how dangerous that may be for all of us? He'd be trying to use powers he might not even possess and we would have to defend him as well as ourselves!" Sango yelled, bringing forth all of her righteous feminine fury to bear upon the hapless half-demon.

"I cannot help but agree with Sango," Miroku input. "Why are you letting him figure everything out? I know lessons such as those often teach independence and various other things, but it would potentially be a lot safer for us all if you guided him _before_ we ran into any trouble," he finished smartly.

"So…" Ryoga prompted, drawing the word out slowly in an attempt to dissipate the increasingly tense atmosphere.

"So…" Inuyasha drawled back. "Demonic powers and how to use them…it's something that every demon and half-demon knows instinctively. They grow into their powers with the knowledge of how to use them. I really don't know if it's possible to teach such things," he finished. It was quite clear now that this was the reason why he wanted Ryoga to learn in the heat of battle.

Sango had the grace to look a little apologetic, but Miroku appeared unruffled by Inuyasha's reasoning. "Instincts do tend to take hold in stressful situations. So, therefore, it would seem that fighting upfront _is_ the best way for Ryoga to learn."

"I just said that didn't I?" Inuyasha grumbled to himself.

Kagome was the only one who caught the low mutter, but she refrained from commenting about it.

"Well, now that we are all here and ready, when do we leave?" Miroku asked, oblivious to Inuyasha's unhappy mutters.

"Why do ye not leave at first light?" Kaede wisely suggested.

Kagome gave the older priestess a thoughtful nod. "Yeah, that sounds good. We really need to get moving. We haven't searched properly for a couple of weeks and the sooner we set out the better."

With everything now planned out, everybody finished their meals. After all the dishes were washed, it was a unanimous vote that they should go straight to sleep so that they would be rested for tomorrow. After everything was neatly stacked back on one of Kaede's shelves, the group found various places to settle down for the night.

* * *

The trill of various birdlife announced the arrival of dawn. The shrill noise drilled into Ryoga's ears and he jerked awake, not used to hearing birds at such a high volume. Despite the usefulness of increased hearing, he knew it would take some time to adjust. He also knew there would be drawbacks. Any truly loud or piercing noise would most likely bring him to his knees. _'How does Inuyasha cope with this…cacophony?'_ he blearily thought. _'Must be used to it, I guess. He's had such advanced hearing all his life, so it'd seem completely normal to him.'_

Thinking of Inuyasha made him remember the conversation last night. His teacher wanted him to learn to use any demonic powers he may have in the heat of battle. Truthfully, Ryoga was scared of doing such a thing. Sango's arguments had made a great deal of sense. _'What if I screw up? What if I can't control what I'm doing and end up needing to be rescued? Or worse, hurting one of them?'_

He never voiced these doubts aloud last night, not wanting to start an argument. The half-demon was already getting a feel for the dynamics of the group and it seemed a little fragile from his perspective.

'_Sango seems to be the big-sister figure. And with what I've seen of her temper, I bet she manages to keep the others in line very well!'_ he nervously thought, reminding himself to never get on the demon-slayer's bad side. _'Miroku's like the big brother. Inuyasha doesn't strike me as the type to fill that role. He's the pack's protector.'_ Ryoga's thoughts came to a screeching halt. _'Wait a minute! Did I just think of the group as a PACK?'_

"Are ye alright?" an aged, feminine voice asked softly, jolting him back to reality.

Ryoga's gaze snapped up to meet Kaede's inquiring one. "Oh, uh, yeah…just thought of something that I'm trying to figure out, that's all!" he quickly stammered out.

Kaede looked disbelieving of his explanation, but she let it go. "Since ye be awake, would ye mind helping me with breakfast?"

"Sure, what do you want me to do?"

"Just go around the side and cut some more firewood. My old bones aren't quite up to the task anymore, I'm afraid. There should be an axe leaning against the wall ye can use," she said, shuffling off to collect everything else she needed.

Standing up, Ryoga stretched his arms above his head. Everyone had gone to sleep in his or her day clothes, so there was no need to change. He made his way to the door and brushed aside the hanging. He was careful to keep the hut that he had just exited in his sights as he walked slowly around it. It did not take him long to find a pile of logs stacked up. The axe, on the other hand, was lying on the ground. Ryoga guessed that he had knocked it over when he had smacked into the hut. With a sheepish grin at the embarrassing memory, he ignored the axe and selected a log.

* * *

Inuyasha, accustomed to the birds, was woken up by a strange swishing noise followed by a thud instead. The strange combination, which had already been repeated several times, sounded once again, prompting Inuyasha to rise.

He peeked over the edge of the roof, his chosen bed, and observed the newcomer swinging away at some logs. _'He's probably cutting up more firewood for the old bag,'_ he pondered. He was about to catch a few more minutes of sleep when a sudden realisation hit him like a hammer. Taking a closer look, his first glance was proven right. _'There was no glint from the axe's blade! What's making the thud then?'_ Studying Ryoga, the silver-haired half-demon almost did a double take. _'He's using his hands! How is he doing that?'_

With that odd scene now burned into his brain, Inuyasha thought back to something Kagome had told him. _'"I know he__'__s a good fighter if he fights as well as he practices,__" Kagome must've been speaking about something like this. I'll have to ask her later.'_

He was considering ignoring the noise for a bit more rest but dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came to him. _'If we wanna find Naraku, we can't be lying around like this!'_ With that, the half dog-demon turned towards the direction of the doorway and leapt off the roof. He entered intent on waking up all those still asleep. He need not have bothered, really, as the same thing that had disturbed him was slowly awaking them all.

"What is that?" Shippo asked, trying to keep a waver out of his voice. The noise stopped as soon as the last word left Shippo's lips.

Inuyasha wondered if he should tell them, but thought better of it. They would undoubtedly find out shortly anyway.

Ryoga ducked around the door covering, his arms laden with two dozen logs all split neatly down the middle. "Is this enough, Kaede?"

The old priestess scrutinised the load Ryoga was carrying. "Yes, that should be plenty, thank ye. Just sit them here," she said, indicating a spot not far from the fire that she had started to stoke back to life.

Ryoga did as he was bid. He did not want to sit around idly and wait for breakfast though. He finally noticed that the others were awake. "Good morning! I'll be outside if anybody needs me," he said, departing the hut.

Stepping out into the crisp, clean air, so different from what he expected in a place humans dwelled, he got into a fighting-ready stance. He smoothly slipped into a relatively easy kata, just to warm himself up. Going fluidly through the well-known motions, Ryoga sped up while sliding into a slightly harder one. He kept up this routine, continuing to start katas of increased difficulty.

So focused was he, that he did not even register the spectators.

"He does Martial Arts?" Sango asked Kagome.

The schoolgirl nodded. "Yes, when we first met he told my mother and me that he was a martial artist. This is only the third time I've seen him practising, but he certainly looks skilled." Kagome turned to the older girl. "You're a fighter; can you tell if he's any good?"

Sango fell silent, casting a calculating gaze at Ryoga's moving form. "He's a martial artist alright. A very _good_ one, at that. He's shifting his weight and placing his feet flawlessly. He's executing the upper body moves at just the right angles to do the maximum amount of damage to an opponent as well."

"Well, I guess that he will still be able to hold his own even if he does not manage to awaken any latent demonic powers," Miroku commented.

"I don't think he'll have any problems with fighting physically," Inuyasha interjected. "He wasn't using the old woman's axe to cut those logs earlier. I was watching from the roof; he used his bare hands."

"Wow…!" Shippo breathed. _'If he can do that, maybe I can get him to protect me from Inuyasha! Kagome does a great job of putting him in his place, but he usually hits me before she has a chance to do anything. Ryoga's faster than Inuyasha, that race they had proved it! I'll get him to be my bodyguard!'_ The young fox-demon drifted off into a daydream, blissfully unaware of the real world anymore.

"Staring at the boy will do ye no good," Kaede's voice interrupted. "I thought an early start was what ye all were after? If ye keep this up, ye won't be departing until the sun reaches its zenith." Having said her piece, the old priestess shuffled back into her hut to finish preparing breakfast.

Kagome ducked her head in embarrassment while Sango took it in stride. Both boys ignored her completely. The younger priestess was the first to move, following the elder back inside. The others were not long in trailing.

* * *

"Now, which way is it?" the dark-haired youth quietly asked himself. After taking a moment to reflect on what he had said, he let out a short laugh. "It's _Ryoga_ that gets lost! _I_ can follow directions, so I'll just ask. Can't be _that_ far."

Spotting a girl walking up the other side of the road, he jogged over to catch her. "Hey, excuse me!"

The girl stopped in her tracks. She gawked at Ranma, taking all of him in. Liking what she saw, she changed her pose to a flirtier one. "Hi there, can I help you with something?" she asked in a sultry voice.

Ranma, completely oblivious to the signals she was giving, gave her a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I'm lookin' for this place called Higurashi Shrine. Do you know where it is?"

"I sure do. Want me to walk you there?" she asked, fervently wishing he would accept.

He shook his head. "No thanks. I'll travel quicker by myself, so, if you could just tell me…?"

The girl gave him the directions, pouting as she watched him quickly walk out of her sight. "Damn, he was a hottie, too! I didn't even get his name!" She cheered up when her imagination supplied her with all the different ways her conversation could have gone.

Ranma, on the other hand, was trying to recall the directions. He had come a fair way before he made camp for the night. He had also gotten an early start that left him with only about a third to a quarter of the way to go. Ranma was determined to go through the well no matter what. Nothing, especially not a wrong turn, was going to stop him from achieving that goal.

* * *

Ryoga slowed to a standstill. Conscious of the fact that baths would be even harder to come across than he was used to, he stopped his workout before he broke a sweat. He finished some cool-down stretches before entering the hut, eager for the first - and most important - meal of the day.

He was greeted a touch awkwardly by most of the others. He raised an eyebrow in question but didn't get a chance to ask about it as he was distracted by the meal Kaede presented to him. He happily accepted and sat on an unoccupied bit of floor.

Breakfast was a quiet affair as nobody had much to say. Kaede collected the dishes and bowls as everyone else assembled outside. On some unspoken signal, Inuyasha and Kagome both strode away. The others followed, most of them pleased to be on the move once again.

They travelled in relative silence, as nobody seemed to be in a talkative mood. Inuyasha was not happy about having to be around the wolf-demons. _'I know travelling with them will be a lot safer for everyone, but that miserable mutt just rubs me the wrong way. That is, IF they even agree to stick with us. Knowing that creepy Koga, he'll join only to be near Kagome! His two lapdogs think of her as a sister, so they won't try anything with her. I suppose __**something**__ good will come of it. If they agree, they'll all protect Kagome, at least, with their lives.'_

Sango and Miroku were thinking much the same thing concerning the wolf-demons. They were unsure if the three would protect anyone besides Kagome, but it was better than nothing.

Shippo was striding along beside Kirara. The kit was puzzling out the best way to broach the subject of body guarding with the group's newest member. He was having little success and figured it would be best to wait until the opportunity presented itself. Bored of walking, Shippo suddenly launched himself in the air. He landed right on target on top of Kagome's backpack.

Kagome, meanwhile, was far too used to Shippo hitching rides unexpectedly and continued on as if nothing had happened. She had her mind on other things at the moment. _'I'm sure Koga, Ginta and Hakkaku would agree if I asked them to join us. They could really help Ryoga, too! What if Koga offers to adopt Ryoga into his family like he's unofficially done with me? I guess I'll just have to wait to see what happens when they meet. I hope it doesn't take long to run into them. I'm not too worried about school yet, but this could take weeks!'_ she thought bleakly. She could only begin to imagine what outrageous illnesses her grandfather would manage to cook up to explain her prolonged absence this time.

The rest of the day passed in this fashion, the monotony only broken by a brief lunch break. Some idle banter was thrown back and forth during lunch, but it died out when they started moving again.

Ryoga was used to silence when he travelled, as he normally had nobody to converse with, so while he was accustomed to it, he was used to there being a lot of talk when he was travelling with others. He vividly remembered the way everybody back in Nerima sang on a trip to a mushroom temple. He found himself wishing that someone would say something. He thought of doing it himself, but he was unsure of what to say. Giving it up as a lost cause, he continued in the silence that was annoying him.

A few hours later, night was beginning to set in and the first star was just starting to twinkle in the twilight. After finding a nice spot to make camp, Kagome sagged gratefully to the ground. "You know, no matter how far I walk while I'm here, I don't think I'll ever really get used to it. I really need to get myself another bike," she said conversationally, adding the last part as an afterthought.

Inuyasha carefully avoided looking at her, concealing a guilty blush as best he could in the fast fading light. He was sure she would never truly forgive him for mangling her bicycle in his attempt to fix it.

"You ride here? Don't people stare at you because of the bike?" Ryoga asked, imagining the scene in his mind.

"Well, yes, but we never stay in one place - except Kaede's village - long enough for them to really ask anything. Most people see my clothes and just figure that I'm a strange girl from someplace weird," she answered, grimacing from all the recollections of such a scenario.

Ryoga could not think of a reply to that, so he let the conversation die. The odd group bustled about setting up camp. Ryoga, having practically memorised and perfected every aspect of camping, went through the whole process mechanically.

* * *

The next couple of days passed in this same fashion.

Miroku and Sango soon settled back into their touch-and-slap routine, despite Ryoga's presence, and he, in turn, learned to avoid Sango whenever Miroku's wandering hands incurred her wrath.

Kirara had taken to flitting between walking with Shippo - when he wasn't riding with Kagome, sitting on her usual perch of Sango's shoulder and crouched on Ryoga's backpack with her forepaws resting on his head and her nose snuggled into his hair. Sango felt a little replaced for a while until she realised that Kirara loved her first and foremost. The demonic cat would prove it by going back to Sango whenever the slayer's mood dropped.

The fourth day brought the first bit of excitement on the road.

A faint, but foul, smell wafted past Ryoga's sensitive nose. It resembled the stench of decay and metal with a strong leather-like musk accompanying it. It irritated his nose so bad that he scrunched it before sneezing. The sound rang out like a shot and everyone turned around to see what it was.

"Ryoga, is something wrong? You're not sick are you?" Kagome asked, looking worried already.

He shook his head. "No, but can't you smell that?"

"Smell what?" she replied, befuddled.

Inuyasha put his nose in the air and sampled it. After a few seconds, he stopped and frowned. "You caught that scent from here? Strong enough to make you sneeze?" he asked, turning to Ryoga with an interested stare.

"Uh…yes?" he answered uncertainly. "What is it?"

"Death," Inuyasha simply said.

Ryoga's ears flicked back for a moment. "Death?" he repeated slowly. "I don't think I follow you…"

"It's the scent of blood, flesh and possibly a demon," he said in all seriousness. The rest of group immediately went on high alert when the word demon was spoken.

Sango's grip around Hiraikotsu's strap tightened marginally as did Miroku's fingers around his staff. Kirara crouched slightly, as though about to pounce, while Shippo stood behind the folds of Miroku's purple robe.

"What do you think?" Kagome asked, waiting for Inuyasha's assessment.

He nodded; frown still firmly in place. "It might be worth checking out." About facing, he strode away at a swift pace, the others following right on his heels.

Ryoga felt like the unnecessary third wheel. _'I'll need to learn all of their habits and body signs if I want to fight with them at full efficiency,'_ he thought, vowing to himself to do just that. Mollified for the moment, he bounded after everyone else.

He caught up to them easier than expected, as they had stopped and were simply standing there with varying expressions. Ryoga hopped over to stand beside Sango and his jaw fell open.

There were at least twenty bodies lying on the ground. A few were still recognisable as being human, but most had been brutalised beyond such identification. About two thirds of the bodies were torn apart; limbs, digits, torsos and heads scattered across the scene while some were conspicuously missing. The ground was scuffed, great clods of dirt churned up from something fairly large and heavy.

Inuyasha jumped off the ledge they were standing on and went to inspect the battlefield closely. He suddenly crouched down and peered at the ground, taking a tentative sniff. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and stood up. "These people were killed by some type of demon. I can't tell much from its footprint or scent except that it's about twice my height and now has a full stomach."

"If we wish to catch up with it and destroy it, now would be the best time," Miroku said calmly. His eyes hardened with hate for the unknown demon as they fell upon the decapitated body of a young girl who seemed to be no older than three or four. "It will be sluggish from all the…food…it ate, and will not be expecting someone to come after it," he continued, struggling a little to get the words out in an even tone.

Kagome turned away, used to such a sight, but still uncomfortable with the devastation. As she did, she found herself looking at Ryoga instead. The Lost Boy was very pale, all colour drained from his face. He stood rigidly still, using all of his discipline to keep himself from running from the gruesome scene. Kagome quickly walked over to him, grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him on his heels, turning his back to the massacre. There was a vacant look in his eyes that had her instantly worried. "Oh, Ryoga, I'm so sorry! I should have warned you, are you alright?"

"H-how…? W-why…?" he managed to choke out.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "These things just happen. The only thing we can do for them now is bury them and hunt down the demon that did this."

Ryoga was not exactly happy with her answer, but he kept his thoughts to himself. There was a nagging thought at the back of his mind that was slowly starting to eat away at him. Unsure of whether or not to ask, he decided to leave it alone until an opportunity presented itself. Steeling himself, he turned and spoke directly to Inuyasha. "Are we going after this thing or not?"

Inuyasha appeared to ponder something for a moment before snapping his gaze up to meet the other half-demon's. "Me and Hibiki here are gonna go after this thing; it'll be a nice easy target for his first time to get him used to fighting like a demon. You lot stay here and give these people a decent burial," he commanded, as though daring someone to object. Surprisingly, no one did. "You, follow me," he ordered, only giving Ryoga a split second to gather himself before sprinting off; tracking the demon.

The bandanna-wearing youth followed, focusing on how to run in his new form. He stayed half a metre behind, unused to tracking like this and relying on Inuyasha to guide the way. He was happy beyond belief with the simple fact that he hadn't gotten lost yet; he didn't want to break his sudden streak of good luck. "Hey, Inuyasha?" he ventured, wary of disturbing his companion's concentration.

"Yeah, what?" Inuyasha grunted back.

Ryoga didn't reply right away. He was trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say without sounding offensive. "Well, when I saw what this demon did back there, it got me thinking…"

"You wanna know if all demons are like that, right?" Inuyasha supplied after Ryoga trailed off.

"Not really. I know they can't all be, I mean, look at Shippo and Kirara; they're not like that at all. No, I was actually wondering if some _half-demons _are like that, too. I guess what I'm trying to say is; Am I going to do something like that if I lose control of myself?" he admitted, carefully keeping his eyes glued forward so that he wouldn't have to see the offended expression he imagined spreading across Inuyasha's face.

Inuyasha was not offended at all. "Depends," he stated bluntly in a disinterested tone.

This answer did nothing to calm Ryoga, but he had no chance to ask for an elaboration. After a few minutes or so of solid running, they had come across the fiend responsible for the slaughter. At first, Ryoga thought it was nothing but a strangely shaped rock until he saw it move slightly up and down. He then realised that it was sleeping; curled up with its back to them and breathing slow and deep. "Now what?" he whispered, unconsciously shifting closer to Inuyasha.

"This is definitely the one that killed all those people," Inuyasha murmured, more to himself than anything. "Alright, here's your first lesson, wolf. Since I have no idea what kind of attacks you can do, we'll start with something basic. Hold out your main hand and curl your fingers a bit, like you're gonna slash something."

Ryoga did as he was bid, feeling a little foolish doing the unfamiliar motions. He glanced at his silver-haired companion for the next instruction.

"Now, see if you can gather some energy to your fingertips, if not your claws," he said, neither of them having raised their voices above a whisper.

The black-haired one focused on his right hand and reached deep within him for his ki. He called upon it and directed a trickle into his right hand, trying to separate the energy into strands that would travel up each finger. It was harder than he anticipated.

Inuyasha watched him carefully, his senses alert to any changes. He frowned when he noticed that Ryoga _was_ drawing energy, it was just the wrong _kind_. This energy felt far too pure to be demonic. Inuyasha felt a tingle run down his spine at the unfamiliar energy; it felt a lot like Kagome's spiritual powers but it seemed to differ in some small way that he couldn't discern. "Stop," he ordered, before Ryoga could draw the power any further.

"What, why, is something wrong?" Ryoga quickly whispered, a little off balance from having his intense concentration broken.

Inuyasha marched up to him until they where almost shoulder-to-shoulder. "Yes. I know you were drawing energy right to where I wanted to you, but," he said, holding up a hand to forestall any complaints, "you were drawing the wrong kind. I meant for you to use demonic energy," he clarified.

Ryoga blinked and let his mind process that sentence. _'I'm so used to using my ki that I didn't think! Wait, I have a separate energy? How does THAT work?'_ he thought, puzzled. _'Never mind, I need to try and access this demonic power.'_ With that thought burned into the forefront of his mind, he again reached deep within himself. He located his vast reservoir of ki immediately, but shied away from it. Going a little further, he found a small, bright, pulsating orb of green energy. His large amount of ki must have smothered it, rendering him unable to sense it within him. In his mind, he could feel the distinct difference between this power and his ki. Cautiously reaching out to the strange power, he let a thin tendril flood throughout his body. He quickly worked to round up the green power and directed it towards his hands; doing the same thing that he had done with his ki.

Inuyasha, senses open and waiting, could instantly feel the switch in auras. A little impatient, he watched as Ryoga's claw tips began glowing a vivid shade of green. Feeling a touch of pride for his student, he allowed Ryoga a moment to examine his claws with awe. After a few seconds, however, he was back to business. "Good work, now all you have to do is keep that energy there and slash through the demon's back."

The half-wolf demon balked at the idea at hurting something in a defenceless position in such a brutal fashion. Feeling Inuyasha's impatient stare boring into him, he steeled his nerves and firmly told himself that it was for other's safety. He kept the tendril of power flowing to each of his fingertips and raised his hand. Closing his eyes to block out the unwanted images, he swung his hand down in a slightly diagonal path. Fives arcs of vivid green followed his swing; slicing through the air and straight through the demon's curled torso.

There was a squelching sound, then a pitter-patter, like raindrops, and an agony-filled roar that was loud enough to make Ryoga flatten his ears to his skull. Then, there was nothing. An oppressive silence filled the area and Ryoga dared not open his eyes; frightful of seeing the terrible destruction he had wrought. He gave a start as something clapped him on the shoulder; gasping in air on reflex and immediately wishing he hadn't.

That was all his sensitive nose needed to catch the fresh scent of demon flesh and blood. Ryoga's stomach had decided that it could take no more and made an unhappy gurgle as it lurched violently. Giving in without a fight, Ryoga ran a short distance away and fell to his knees, coughing and retching as his stomach emptied all of its contents onto the ground. He felt even more nauseous as he inhaled the scent of his upchucked food. Trembling, he closed his eyes and tried to get his body back under his control.

* * *

Ranma huffed in impatience. He had found the shrine, along with the well, and had secretly staked the place out. He didn't mind camping out. However, he had made finding a public bathhouse his first priority after he had finished setting up. He had expected to find Ryoga, Kagome and Inuyasha still at the Higurashi's house making last-minute checks for all supplies necessary. Unfortunately for him, from what he had overheard, they had gone through the well the same day that they had left the Tendo's.

'_If only I had the chance to see how they do it! Do they need to have something special for the well to activate, or does it just happen? I've been watching the building with the well in it for days and I still have no clue!'_ Ranma gave a small growl of frustration and crossed his arms, looking remarkably like a petulant child.

A spark of raw determination burned in his eyes as he smirked. _'I'm tired of waiting! I'm just gonna go for it and see what happens!'_ Smirk still firmly in place, he snuck out from his hidden stakeout spot and practically ghosted over to the building that contained the ancient well. Quickly glancing around to make sure he was unobserved, he opened the door, bounded inside, and closed it behind him in one swift, smooth motion.

Ranma hopped over to the rim of the Bone Eater's well and looked down to see if the bottom was visible. Reassured when he discovered that it was, he grinned and jumped. He would come back for his stuff if he got through.

* * *

**A/N:** And there you have it. I know there's a lot of talking, but remember; they're still getting used to each other. They don't know much about each other, so many things have to be explained. I'm sorry if it bores you.

I bet a lot of you were hoping for a dramatic fight scene when Ryoga encountered his first enemy demon. Sorry to disappoint, but he needed time to uncover his demonic energy. He has so much ki that it overpowers and smothers his youki - demonic energy. I will be exploring that concept deeper later on, when it becomes perfectly clear to everyone about his power imbalance. There, that's all the spoiler-ing you're gonna get!

Major thanks to **UpperClassK9** for being an awesome beta and friend! _-hugs- _As soon as I feel inspired, I'm gonna draw you another fox-Kurama pic!

And thankyou to all of my wonderful readers! I was a little sad to see the drastic fall in reviews last chapter… What happened? If you lost interest, I hope that this recaptures it.

If you have taken the time to read this, please review to let me know how I did. If I can improve in some way, I want to know. Thanks again!

~Fantomo


	5. Unfamiliar Territory

**A/N:** Hey there! I am, as usual, very sorry about the long wait! Once I started writing this, though, I was done a lot quicker than usual. I started it around a month ago, so the time before that doesn't count. Anyway, it's done now so enjoy!

**On a small note: **I have written a spin-off one-shot to this called **When the Cat Comes A'Callin'**. It's based off the moment in chapter three when Ryoga says that he'd love for Ranma to meet Kirara. If you like this story, please check out the spin-off.

**Disclaimer:** I just bought the two Ranma ½ movies on DVD off eBay! Yay! Unfortunately, I do not own the rights to either of these incredible works. I am not Rumiko Takashi.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"_Wolf speak/other"_

**Recap: **There was a squelching sound, then a pitter-patter, like raindrops, and an agony-filled roar that was loud enough to make Ryoga flatten his ears to his skull. Then, there was nothing. An oppressive silence filled the area and Ryoga dared not open his eyes; frightful of seeing the terrible destruction he had wrought. He gave a start as something clapped him on the shoulder; gasping in air on reflex and immediately wishing he hadn't.

That was all his sensitive nose needed to catch the fresh scent of demon flesh and blood. Ryoga's stomach had decided that it could take no more and made an unhappy gurgle as it lurched violently. Giving in without a fight, Ryoga ran a short distance away and fell to his knees, coughing and retching as his stomach emptied all of its contents onto the ground. He felt even more nauseous as he inhaled the scent of his upchucked food. Trembling, he closed his eyes and tried to get his body back under his control.

* * *

Ranma huffed in impatience. He had found the shrine, along with the well, and had secretly staked the place out. He didn't mind camping out. However, he had made finding a public bathhouse his first priority after he had finished setting up. He had expected to find Ryoga, Kagome and Inuyasha still at the Higurashi's house making last-minute checks for all supplies necessary. Unfortunately for him, from what he had overheard, they had gone through the well the same day that they had left the Tendo's.

'_If only I had the chance to see how they do it! Do they need to have something special for the well to activate, or does it just happen? I've been watching the building with the well in it for days and I still have no clue!'_ Ranma gave a small growl of frustration and crossed his arms, looking remarkably like a petulant child.

A spark of raw determination burned in his eyes as he smirked. _'__I__'__m tired of waiting! I__'__m just gonna go for it and see what happens!__'_ Smirk still firmly in place, he snuck out from his hidden stakeout spot and practically ghosted over to the building that contained the ancient well. Quickly glancing around to make sure he was unobserved, he opened the door, bounded inside, and closed it behind him in one swift, smooth motion.

Ranma hopped over to the rim of the Bone Eater's well and looked down to see if the bottom was visible. Reassured when he discovered that it was, he grinned and jumped. He would come back for his stuff if he got through.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Unfamiliar Territory**

"Come on, we need to get back to the others," Inuyasha said gruffly, trying to distract the other boy from the demon remains behind them.

Ryoga shakily got to his feet. Nodding resolutely, he set his jaw and waited for Inuyasha to walk ahead of him so that he could safely follow.

The pair travelled back to the others in silence. Ryoga's mind was in turmoil and he feared to open his mouth lest he heave again. Inuyasha on the other hand, simply had nothing to say. Having never really received any kind of comfort after his mother's death almost two centuries ago, he had no idea what to do or what he could possibly say to the young half-demon.

Once they reached the group, Miroku handed Inuyasha two shovels. Keeping one, Inuyasha wordlessly handed the other to Ryoga and started digging graves along with the rest.

* * *

Ranma felt the familiar sensation of falling for a couple of seconds before his feet hit the ground. He slowly opened his eyes. The old walls of the well came into view and Ranma felt his spirits drop before he realised that of course the walls were not going to change. His spirits rising, he eagerly craned his neck upwards to glance at the sky.

The ceiling of the well house met his gaze and Ranma's spirits plummeted faster than he had fallen through the air.

Frowning in disappointed confusion, Ranma walked over to the wall he was facing and ran a hand over it, hoping to find a hidden switch or something. He hastily yanked his hand back when all he found was a few splinters.

After carefully pulling the splinters out, Ranma leapt out of the well and closely examined the rim.

A little over two hours later, Ranma wearily flopped inside his tent and let loose a long sigh. He had gone over every inch of the well and had not found a single thing even slightly out of the ordinary.

"There has to be _something_ I'm missing!" he angrily hissed to himself. "I'd wait for them to get back so that I can find out what that something is, but who knows how long that'll be? Maybe her family knows how it works? Hmm, I'll sneak around the house and see what I can find out."

Now armed with some sort of plan, Ranma felt his confidence return. With his cocky smile now back where it belonged, Ranma left his tent and used all of his skills concerning stealth to avoid detection by those within the house. When he had first arrived at the Higurashi's house, an old man had started yelling about feeling evil eyes on him. The old man had then started sticking sutras to the walls and mumbling strange prayers; most of which included wards against wolves.

Shaking his head to rid it of the odd memory, Ranma kept on high alert; one eye on the lookout for the old man.

* * *

The last body had finally been buried. Ryoga, who had not uttered a single sound the entire time, set his shovel on the ground and slunk off. Once he was far enough away from the others, he sat down with his back against a fallen tree. Anyone who was looking for him would have to jump over the tree to see him.

The Lost Boy's clothes were splattered with demon blood. It had dried into a black colour, too dark to be recognised as blood, and made his shirt resemble a macabre mockery of his bandanna pattern. The half wolf-demon seemed not to notice the state of his clothing as his nose had quickly become accustomed to the smell of blood - human or otherwise.

Ryoga's ears lowered as he drew his knees up to his chest and snaked his arms around his shins. His tail slowly flicked, betraying his agitated state of mind. Ryoga's numb mind latched on to the moving object and he snatched his tail up in his hands. He ran his fingers through the fine fur, musing about the strange twist of fate that had landed him here.

'_How did things come to this? Everything's happened so fast that parts of it seem like some hazy, half-forgotten dream… Am I really a half-demon? Must be, the evidence is right in front of my eyes! My demon blood must be the cause of my new cursed form; it's the only explanation I can think of. But then, if that's true, why did my cursed form change before my demon blood was awoken?'_

Ryoga shook his head, still staring absently at his tail. "There are always more questions than answers…" His black fur began to blur, but Ryoga let the tears slip down unchallenged. "Why?" he sobbed, "why did my parents never tell me? What's wrong with me? Isn't it enough that I'm cursed and always lost?!"

Ryoga's voice had steadily risen and his despair bubbled up inside of him, begging to be released. Giving in without a fight, Ryoga stood and crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest, as though trying to hold his emotions back with a physical barrier. A small sphere of bluish-white light appeared in midair, floating in front of his chest and swiftly getting larger. With a feral shout, Ryoga cupped his hands behind the large ball of ki and let it burst forth.

"Shishi Hokodan!"

Feeling drained, Ryoga hung his head and let his tears hit the ground. The cursed boy needed time to think, so he started doing what he always had before; he began walking. In his depressed state, Ryoga was not aware that he was walking away from the others; he was simply did as he had always done and let his feet be his guide.

* * *

Miroku, Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango all whipped their heads around as a ripple of energy washed over them while Kirara mewed in a sad cry.

"W-what was that?" Sango said, feeling a wave of sadness flood over her.

Inuyasha had his fangs bared in a silent snarl as a strange light appeared above the trees some distance away. The melancholy feeling increased as the light flared brighter and Inuyasha was reminded of his childhood; how the others in the court shunned him, his mother's tears and the sad day when she passed away and he was run out of the place, pursued by men armed with all manner of weapons intent on ridding the world of the 'demon spawn'.

Miroku was frowning in concentration. "Normally, I would suspect a demon of being behind such a phenomenon. But, I could only sense sadness in the air, there was no hint of demonic energy within that strange aura…" he said after a few moments, clearly baffled.

"Hey, where's Ryoga?" Kagome suddenly asked. Her question sparked a quick search that revealed nothing.

"I saw him here a few minutes ago, but I didn't see him go anywhere," Shippo chipped in helpfully.

"Oh no," Kagome moaned. "He's gotten lost! From all that I heard and figured out, Ryoga has a terrible sense of direction. He could be absolutely anywhere by now!"

Sango turned a disbelieving stare on to the young priestess. "You mean if we let him out of our sights, he'll wander off and get lost?"

Kagome nodded. "A journey that should take half a day will take Ryoga a week! We _must_ find him before he gets too far and something happens!"

"How are we going to track him?" Miroku asked.

Kagome looked baffled for a moment before Kirara gave her the answer by mewing at Inuyasha. "That's it! Inuyasha can track him by scent!"

"What?!" Inuyasha barked in outrage.

"Yes, that's a great idea!" Sango said.

Shippo carefully positioned himself behind Kagome's legs before speaking up. "I don't know what you're making such a fuss about. Isn't this the way you tracked Koga and Kagome when he kidnapped her to help him beat the Birds of Paradise?"

The half dog-demon blinked at the young kitsune before scowling. He could not deny the fox-demon's words. Inuyasha shot a quick glance at Kagome, caught her pleading look - not to mention the promised 'sit' command if he did not comply - and, grumbling, crouched down to all fours and set his nose to the ground.

Inuyasha made his way around the area, nose alert for any trace of the half wolf-demon's scent. After having shuffled around on his hands and knees for a minute or two, he came across the scent trail that Ryoga left when he exited the area after dropping the shovel. Inuyasha signalled his success to the others and bounded off, periodically sniffing to make sure he was still on the trail.

"Let's go Kirara!" Sango said leaping onto the cat-demon's back as soon as she had finished transforming into her larger self. The demon-slayer helped hoist Kagome up behind her and Kirara let out a roar as she took to the air. "We'll search from the air as he should be easy to spot if you happen to lose his trail," Sango shouted with a wave.

Miroku nodded as Inuyasha was too busy with his nose to the ground to reply. Shippo, who had hopped onto Miroku's shoulders when Kirara transformed so that he could keep up, wasn't too worried. The way the young kitsune saw it, they had gotten on fine without Ryoga before and - though he would possibly be losing a bodyguard - he knew that they could easily live without Ryoga if they couldn't find him.

* * *

Akane's frowned deepened as she got closer and closer to her destination.

After Ukyo had left that day, Ranma had gone up to his room. Hours later, though still mad with his behaviour concerning Ukyo's visit, she had been volunteered by her father - and Ranma's - to go and tell him that dinner was ready. She had been surprised to find the room empty. Akane had expected him to be either sulking - trying not to show it - or asleep. Not too worried, she figured that he had snuck out the window to avoid running into her and was training in the dojo. When she had discovered that the dojo, too, was deserted, the worry began to kick in.

Even now, days later, and still no sign of her wayward fiancé, Akane's worry had escalated and she was growing desperate. That was the reason that she was on her way to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. Perhaps Ukyo knew where Ranma had gone or, like the time Ranma had gone to Yomogi Valley, had taken the chef along. The very thought made her blood boil and Akane silently promised retribution for his carelessness and seemingly callous attitude. The youngest Tendo continued her trek to the restaurant.

What seemed like an age later, Akane slightly ducked her head as she pushed aside the curtain that proclaimed the name 'Ucchan's Okonomiyaki'. Chucking a glance towards the grill, Akane was greeted by the familiar site of Ukyo behind it.

The young chef looked up, hoping that Ranma was her newest customer and was disappointed to find Akane. "Hello, welcome to Ucchan's, what can I get you?"

"Oh, hey, Ukyo," Akane replied, sitting down on the bar stools in front of the sizzling grill. "Has Ranma been by lately?" she asked, getting straight to the point as she was not in the mood to dance around the topic.

"Ranma? No. I've noticed that he hasn't been at school. Is he sick or something?" Ukyo asked, easily imagining that Akane had poisoned her Ranma-honey with terrible cooking. She really worried about the stuff he ate there…

Akane twisted her hands together. _'If even Ukyo hasn't seen him, then where could he possibly be? I know the note he left said that he would be training, but he didn't say where! Ranma you jerk, why do you always insist on doing everything yourself?!'_

Ukyo instantly took note of the other girl's silence. If it concerned Ranma and Akane wasn't shouting angrily, then you knew it was something serious. "Akane, is everything okay?"

Akane was having an internal debate. If she got Ukyo to help find Ranma, then the pretty chef would take advantage of the situation and Ranma would forget all about Akane. _'Still, the more people there are searching, the better our chances of finding him, right?'_ Akane knew that Ranma had gone on training trips that lasted days before, but he had always had someone with him. If not, then someone always knew his whereabouts. Since that was not the case this time, everyone in the dojo had started to worry - though some, like Happosai, didn't show their concern.

The youngest Tendo daughter took a deep breath and decided to shelve her pride. "Ranma is missing," she said, raising her hands to forestall Ukyo when the chef gasped. "Well, not…missing, exactly…but no-one knows where he is. He left the same day Ryoga did, almost a week ago, and only left a note saying that he was training for when Ryoga came back. He never said where he was training though…"

"We've got to find him!" Ukyo declared, fists clenched and fire dancing in her eyes.

"Yes, but…do you have any clues as to where he could be?"

The fire died as Akane's words echoed in her head. "Uh, no…but I'm sure we'll think of something!" she said, trying to ignite a spark of hope.

Akane wracked her brain for even the smallest idea that might lead to a clue. "You didn't run into Ryoga that day, did you? He was with three other people - one with long silvery-white hair and bright red clothes?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I did. I thought we were going to look for Ranma. What's Ryoga got to do with this?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe Ranma followed Ryoga," she admitted, now twining her fingers together. "Did they say where they were going?"

Ukyo hummed a little under her breath as she thought back to that day. "No, none of them mentioned where they were headed. They introduced themselves, but that's it. Sorry Akane," she added, a little surprised to find that she meant it.

Akane didn't answer right away. "I think I remember them saying that they were going back to a place called Higurashi Shrine… Do you think it's possible that that's where Ranma went?"

"Could be," Ukyo replied in a serious tone. "In any case, it's our only lead. We should pack a few things and head there. Whaddya say?"

"I'll run home and pack. Meet you here in half an hour?"

Ukyo agreed and Akane scurried off to gather her things and return before Ukyo had the chance to ditch her.

* * *

Trees. Nothing but an endless sea of trees entered his field of vision for as far as it extended. Which, being half wolf-demon, amounted to being quite far indeed - further than any humans'. Ryoga had been walking for a while now, still lost within his own head while trying to sort out his situation and all of the emotions that had come about because of the change in circumstance.

The sun was little more than a sliver of yellow on the horizon. Twilight was setting in and the nocturnal wildlife was just starting to stir, eager for the night to blanket the sky. The first star had yet to twinkle, but the varying shades of orange and pink that still stained the sky more than made up for it.

The glorious display of Mother's Nature's beauty was completely ignored by the bandanna-clad wanderer. His eyes were fixed firmly on the ground in front of his feet, his gaze unseeing. Time held no meaning for Ryoga Hibiki at that moment. He would have kept walking in this state until he was forced to stop from fatigue if the land did not suddenly come to a halt. Ryoga realised that he had come to a cliff face too late to stop himself from putting a foot over the edge. Unable to catch his balance, the unlucky martial artist felt gravity take a hold of his body as he fell.

_SPLASH!_

Moments later, Ryoga broke the surface of a small lake that was at the foot of the cliff and inhaled sharply. Half-blinded by the wet fur covering his eyes, Ryoga struck out for land, instinctively dog-paddling. Feeling the sensitive pads of his paws encounter the muddy bank, the black wolf hauled himself out of the water. His clothes were hanging off him and he bundled them up as best he could before taking them in his jaws. Standing on firm ground once more, Ryoga felt his wolf instincts take over again right before he shook, sending droplets of water flying through the air.

When he was done, Ryoga felt lighter. _'The water was weighing my fur down. I'm not dry - not by a long shot - but at least now I'll be able to move easier and faster,'_ he reasoned to himself, trying to find a logical reason for his wolf body's instincts. _'Ranma doesn't realise just how easy he truly has it with his curse… Every other cursed person I know - not counting that Cult of the Muscle Sword guy - has a curse that turns them into some type of animal. That jerk has never had to deal with the confusion of being in an animal's body with a human mind yet a slave to that body's natural instincts! I doubt he's even thought about it!'_

Stopping himself from mentally ranting any more than he already had, Ryoga finally noticed that the dark of night was setting in. The Lost Boy felt like kicking himself when the full impact of his current situation hit him like a ton of bricks.

Here he was five hundred years in the past with no backpack - meaning no rations, camp stove or tent - with no clue as to his location and, to top it all off, he was in his cursed form with no way to turn back unless he miraculously chanced upon a natural hot spring. Ryoga knew how rotten his luck was though, and sighed wistfully at the one-in-ten-million chance of that actually happening. He dropped his clothes.

Ryoga let out a cry of frustration and despair. A long, mournful howl split the silence, echoing several times and carried off by the wind.

When the last strains of his cry faded, Ryoga blinked in surprise at what he had done. Shrugging it off, he made a mental note to tell Nabiki that he could indeed howl if he ever somehow made it back to his time. Glancing around, he tried to find somewhere that would provide him shelter for the night. Picking up his clothes again, he padded off, knowing he had to find a spot before night truly set in and his vision was impaired by the darkness.

A little under a half-hour later, he had managed to come across a small den-like structure tunnelled out between a slab of rock and a slightly rounded wall of earth. What the cursed boy found most interesting was the fact that his vision seemed to become better, not worse, the darker it got. _'Wolves must have good night vision or something,'_ he thought as he entered the empty den. He came to the end of the den; a chamber around eight feet wide and five or six feet high.

Sniffing around a bit, he gave a light snort when he could not identify any of the scents that his very sensitive nose picked up. _'I'm gonna have to learn the scents of things so that I can figure out any scent I come across. Who knows, it may just save my life if I'm a wolf. I have absolutely zero fighting experience in this form and I don't fancy taking on a giant bear or something in a cave I might wander into for shelter!'_

Ryoga stretched his forelegs while arching his back a little; resembling a cat more than a wolf. Once the tension in his back had eased a bit, he fully stretched one back leg before switching to the other and repeating the process. The ground was firm, but not uncomfortable, and Ryoga spent a few seconds testing the ground with his paws before he awkwardly lay down, setting his clothes next to himself. He fidgeted a bit, trying to work his wolf body into a comfortable position. The pseudo wolf sighed, snuggling his muzzle into his paws.

His thoughts were still chasing themselves around inside his head. It took Ryoga an hour or so to finally quieten down his restless mind enough to allow him to drop into a semi-peaceful slumber.

* * *

"Do you think it is getting a bit late to search?" Miroku asked when Inuyasha had finally stopped.

They were standing atop a relatively small cliff that overlooked a body of water. Inuyasha had lost the scent trail and was now looking for any type of clue to indicate why. _'Hibiki's trail ends right at the edge. Supposing the idiot fell and landed in the water? I'll have to go down to the water's edge and check.'_

Gesturing for the monk to follow, Inuyasha leapt, catching a quick glance of Kirara and the cat-demon's two passengers as they started to descend towards his position. The faintly damp ground held up quite well against the impact, two deep footprints the only thing to show for it. Inuyasha stood up a little slower than usual, letting the last of the impact dissipate from his legs; his knees in particular. He may be a half-demon, but such things did affect him to a degree.

Inuyasha's sharp eyes picked out some more prints not far from where he stood. He couldn't be quite sure until he got closer as it was fairly dark at this point; the moon not yet making an appearance. Bending down, he easily recognised the haphazard tracks of a wolf that had emerged from the small lake. He had just stood once more when his companions joined him; Miroku and Shippo hitching a quick ride on Kirara down the cliff.

"We couldn't see anyone for a couple of miles in any direction," Sango said, hopping off her faithful pet. "Any luck on your end?" she asked the guys.

"I think so," Inuyasha replied, pointing to the paw prints. "I lost Hibiki's scent at the edge of that cliff. He must have fell and landed in the water, activating his curse. He may be a wolf, but he still smells like himself for the most part. If we follow these tracks, they should lead us right to him," he announced.

"Great!" Kagome exclaimed as Kirara, now passenger-free, shrunk to her usual form. "I want to find him before he goes any further. Hopefully he's stopped for the night somewhere close by." She stared expectedly at Inuyasha and he started tracking the wolf, grumbling as he went.

Finding Ryoga had not taken as long as Kagome - and, by extension, the others - had feared. Travelling at a jogging rate, they had come across a sort of den after around fifteen minutes or so.

"Seems like a perfect place for any animal," Miroku commented.

Kirara jumped down from Sango's shoulder and cautiously made her way into the den. Following the tunnel to the chamber, Kirara sniffed the air to make sure the dark lump lying curled was her new friend and not some wild beast. Once she was assured as to the lump's identity, the two-tailed cat rubbed her face against Ryoga's shoulder, mewing loudly. The lump shifted slightly, prompting Kirara to redouble her efforts. Unknown to all but her own self, Kirara was actually calling his name.

Ryoga opened his eyes and blearily peered around until his gaze fell upon a patch of cream. Kirara happily called his name one final time and Ryoga came fully awake. He stared at the little cat-demon and gave a happy bark, tail wagging. _"Oh, am I glad to see you! I was afraid I'd be wandering around for weeks before I ran into you!"_

Kirara turned and pranced away, her two tails waving jauntily. She emerged from the den, Ryoga a couple of paw steps behind her, and resumed her perch on Sango's shoulder.

As the black wolf appeared, Kagome let go of a breath she had been holding and sank to her knees in relief. "Oh, thank goodness…" she whispered to the air.

Ryoga hung his head and scuffed a forepaw on the ground in embarrassment before looking apologetically at everyone. They smiled at him - bar Inuyasha - and, reassured, he followed meekly as they found a good camping spot.

* * *

Two girls stopped at a park and sank tiredly onto a bench, slipping the backpacks from their shoulders and very glad of the respite. Others who were walking through the park sent the two confused looks, unsure what to make of the sight they made. Akane and Ukyo took a moment to rest, ignoring everyone else in favour of letting their aching muscles take a break.

"How close do you reckon we are?" Ukyo said, huffing from the long walk.

"I have no idea, but I think we should've waited until early tomorrow before we started out on this trip," Akane replied testily. She wasn't really upset with Ukyo, just irritated by the sheer amount of walking she had done while lugging around a heavy backpack. _'Is this how Ryoga feels all the time? No wonder he always has such a short fuse, especially with Ranma! If Ranma stopped picking on him, I'm sure those two would get along like best friends,'_ she thought, thinking about all the times that she had seen the two headstrong boys acting like buddies.

Ukyo sniffed, deigning not to answer lest the two get into a shouting match.

Akane suddenly stood and waved down a passer-by. "Hey, excuse me!"

"Yes, dear, is there something I can do for you?" An old man turned around to face Akane and smiled at her kindly.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where the Higurashi Shrine is?" she asked, smiling back.

Ukyo blinked at Akane's back in bemusement. _'Why didn't I think of that?'_ She watched as Akane bowed to the elderly man and jogged back to her. Akane was smiling, so Ukyo guessed that she must have gotten the desired answer. "Where to, Akane? Lead the way," she said, dispelling the last of the tense atmosphere between them.

Both girls heaved their packs on and Akane headed out of the park, Ukyo a half-step behind her. There was no conversation between them, but neither girl felt the need to break the companionable silence that existed. The two continued like this for around ten minutes, Akane occasionally taking a turn here and there until they came to the foot of a rather long set of stairs. It was the length of a stairway that, more often than not, led to some type of shrine or temple.

Akane and Ukyo glanced at each other before hefting their packs up more securely and putting a foot on the first step.

Just as they wearily reached the top, the two suddenly felt an arm latch around their waists. Before this action truly registered in their minds, whoever had grabbed them bounded into the trees and only stopped when they were standing before a tent.

Ukyo recovered first and jerked her arm backwards, elbowing their kidnapper in the face. The impact freed the two girls and they hastily got to their feet to face the threat. Ukyo drew her giant spatula and Akane shifted into an aggressive ready stance.

Weak shafts of moonlight filtered into the area and shone on the three figures. The kidnapper took his hands away from his face and looked up, the scarce light revealing his frowning visage. "Whadja go an' do that for?"

"Ranma?!"

"Ranma-honey?!"

The pigtailed boy stood there, resisting the urge to massage his throat. Ukyo's elbow had hit him just above his Adam's apple and his throat was starting to hurt. He was glad that the strike hadn't hit his vocal chords hard enough to damage them.

"Just what did you think you were doing scaring us like that?!" Akane hissed, not wanting to shout lest she woke someone up. She had an ominous red glow around her that clearly told Ranma he was in big trouble.

"Now wait just a sec, Akane, let me explain!" he babbled out, his hands in front of him to ward her off from coming any closer.

"Then start talkin', Ranchan, and make it good!" Ukyo said, still not loosening her grip or lowering her spatula.

Ranma took one look at the two angry females he was facing and started talking quickly as though his life depended on it, which, in fact, it did. "I saw you guys get to the top of the stairs, but I didn't want you to go into the house. If I'd have dropped down right in front of you, you woulda made a big fuss an' gotten their attention. It coulda ruined all my plans, so I nabbed you before you could do anythin'!"

Akane blinked, trying to sort out what he had said, while Ukyo stared at him curiously. "Plans? What plans?"

Ranma stopped up short. He remembered that he was the only one who truly knew where Ryoga had gone. If he wanted to explain, and subsequently avoid a painful beating, he would have to tell them everything. Sighing, he motioned for the girls to take a seat and, sitting down himself, he began telling them what he had overheard Kagome tell Ryoga.

One very strange and scarcely believable tale later, Akane and Ukyo were staring at Ranma as though he had grown a second head.

"A _well_, are you _serious_?" Ukyo asked, wondering if Ranma had eaten something he shouldn't have. _'Shampoo didn't slip him anything, did she?'_

Akane was thinking along the same lines. She had gotten used to plenty of weirdness ever since Ranma had first arrived at her house, but some things went beyond even her range of strange.

"Of course I'm serious! Though, now that you two are here, wanna help me?" he said, his tone instantly changing from anger to eager. "It'll be a lot easier if there are three of us," he reasoned, mentally smacking himself for asking. To Ranma, asking someone for help was a sign of weakness as it showed that you could not do something by yourself. He was rather desperate at this point, however, so he had swallowed his pride and asked.

Akane knew how adamant Ranma usually was about help, so she agreed, happy that he wasn't doing something on his own anymore.

Ukyo, too, knew how prideful Ranma was and also agreed.

"Great!" Ranma said, beaming. He had a glint in his eyes that the two girls were not very comfortable with, but it was too late to back out now.

* * *

The sky was awash with pastel pinks, yellows and oranges muted only by the lingering darkness that the sun had yet to dispel. The beautiful dawn also brought creatures awake, though most noticed only their stomachs and prepared to spend the day foraging. Many birds decided to herald the sun's reappearance in the sky with their own unique serenades.

It was this jumble of various birdsong that crept into Ryoga's dreams, disturbing his sleep and slowly forcing him to abandon dreamland. The cursed martial artist had spent the night in his wolf form. His thick fur had kept him much warmer than his piggy coat had and he once again thanked whoever was responsible for changing his cursed form. Ryoga would have preferred not to have been cursed altogether, but beggars can't be choosers and he'd take any improvement he could get.

Noticing an unfamiliar warmth at his side, Ryoga turned to see what it was.

It was Kirara.

The little demon cat had crawled into the space between Ryoga's elbows and hind legs, resting against his stomach. She was curled tightly, her two tails almost completely obscuring her tiny body. Ryoga could not stop himself from smiling.

Kirara had taken to him very quickly and he had no idea why. Despite the fact that Kirara was a demon animal, any animal's affection was always pure. They simply didn't have the capacity for emotional deceit. Ryoga had to admit that being loved unconditionally - with no strings attached like his situation was with Akane - was a very rare feeling in his life and he absorbed every precious moment of it, committing it to memory.

Not wanting to wake her, Ryoga lay his head back on his paws, marvelling at how comfortable the position was. Lying like this as a human would be uncomfortable at the least and painful at the worst. _'Just once, I'd like to see Ranma deal with an animal-based curse like me, Mousse and Shampoo! I know he can turn into a cat - at least his mind turns into one - but it's not the same. Ranma has no idea of what he does when he's in the Cat-Fist. I wonder if it's possible to switch Jusenkyo curses with someone, even for a short period of time. Maybe if he dealt with an animal curse, he wouldn't be so quick so splash me and Mousse anymore…'_

Ryoga had heard a lot about the Cat-Fist as P-chan, but he had never seen it in action. Ranma was supposedly unbeatable while using it, even taking down Cologne with ease if he believed what he had heard. Ryoga didn't like his chances if the story was true, but he still wouldn't mind seeing how he matched up against a feral Ranma.

Thinking about a feral Ranma brought back his thoughts about fighting as a wolf. He had never trained himself to fight as a piglet, simply using his tiny body as a missile and bouncing off things to gain momentum. Wolves, however, were predators and they were expected to fight other animals. If Ryoga got lost and wandered upon the territory of a wolf pack, he would either have to run and hope he was faster or, if they caught up to him, act submissive and pray that they left him alone.

The very thought pricked at his pride. _'No, I'm definitely teaching myself how to fight as a wolf!'_

While Ryoga waited for someone else to awaken, he began experimenting with his new wolf senses, seeing how far he could strain them. Swivelling his ears, he heard all sorts of things. It was a little disconcerting, as he could hear multiple things from two different directions, but he forced himself to get used to it. If he moved both of his ears in the same direction to track one sound, it became a lot easier to focus.

Switching from sound to smell, Ryoga poked his nose in the air and gave a tentative sniff. A multitude of scents seemed to slam into him, threatening to make him sneeze. He spent the next twenty or so minutes carefully sifting through the closest scents and matching them to their owners. Once he figured out who was who, he began burning the scents into his brain. Unknowingly, his wolf instincts had done most of the work for him. If a wolf found a new scent, they automatically stored it in their memory. Ryoga was unaware of this, however, so he took longer than a normal wolf.

His self-appointed task finished, Ryoga let his eyes rove over the campsite. He saw his clothes laid out by what was left of the fire. Sango had been kind enough to grab his backpack and had slung it on her own back while they had searched for him. Ryoga reminded himself to thank her when he could talk again.

A muted rustling, like clothes, caught his attention and he looked across to Sango to see her roll over before slowly sitting up. Sango yawned, stretching her arms and shoulders. The demon slayer cast her eyes about camp, checking that everything was okay. She caught Ryoga's golden gaze for a second before she spotted her pet, a patch of cream against a sea of ebony.

The look of surprise lasted only a moment as she squashed it. Kirara usually slept with her or Shippo, even spending the odd night with Kagome. _'I don't get it… Why do I seem to have something against this boy? He has never wronged us in any way, yet I can't bring myself to fully accept his presence. Maybe if I talk to him, learn more about him?'_

Sango promised herself that she would do just that. Standing up, she threw a few more sticks onto the fire and gently coaxed it back into a proper flame. Once the fire was to her satisfaction, she made her way quietly over to Ryoga. "Good morning," she said awkwardly.

Ryoga inclined his head politely, knowing that if he made a sound, Kirara would feel the vibrations of it through his ribs and awake.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the fire heats up properly before we can boil you some water," she went on, determinedly looking into his eyes even as she fought the urge to look anywhere else. _'Talking to a wolf like this is really weird…even though I know he's not really a wolf,'_ she thought. Sango hoped that she would get used to it before long.

The bandanna-clad wolf nodded, unable to do anything else.

"Do you have something to heat the water in?" Sango asked before walking back over to the fire. She watched as Ryoga nodded at his backpack. Understanding, she went over to it and unbuckled the clasps holding it closed. Feeling like she was intruding, she searched quickly and refastened the straps as soon as she had a small, metal camp-kettle in her grasp.

Sango swiftly walked away, heading for the lake Ryoga had fallen in yesterday, the kettle and her own bottle held in each hand. It wouldn't take as long to reach it as it had last night, as Sango knew exactly where it was and she could see properly in the daylight.

Ryoga was once again the only one awake. Though, he did not have to wait long until another stirred. Shippo mumbled something, still asleep, and rolled over with his arm extended, his tiny hand smacking Kagome on the cheek. Even though the strike had no power behind it, it was enough to jolt the schoolgirl from slumber.

"Wha?" Kagome groaned, half-asleep. Idly taking note of the time with a quick glance at the sky, she let loose a long yawn and unknowingly followed what Sango had done by stretching. Kagome decided to let the kit snooze on and moved cautiously out of her sleeping bag.

She, too, caught sight of Ryoga and Kirara and had to resist the urge to squeal, "Cute!" As it was, she was desperately wishing that she had brought her camera; it was such a Kodak moment.

Ryoga had seen the sudden shiny spark in her eyes and could guess full well what she was thinking. He knew from past experience that girls liked to play dress-up with their pets. Now, he figured he was a bit big for Kagome to play dress-up, but if she did it with Kirara - who, when transformed, was bigger than him as a wolf - then what was to stop her from setting her sights on him?

The cursed boy had to repress a shudder as unwanted images sprang into his mind. Akane had made him an outfit once, but he had not protested against wearing it. It had been made by the fair hand of his sweet Akane after all.

'_I wonder if I can get another of Ryoga's bandannas to tie around Kirara's neck,'_ Kagome thought, imagining how cute they would look if they matched. Wondering if Sango would object, Kagome was about to ask her opinion when she noticed that the other girl was missing. Before she began to panic, she remembered that Ryoga was awake. Going over to the wolf, she crouched in front of him. "Good morning, Ryoga!" she chirped softly. "Have you seen Sango?"

Ryoga nodded, already growing tired of having to do it, and pointed his nose the way Sango had gone. He hoped Kagome understood what he was trying to say; it would be a real pain to try and write in this form.

"Did she leave camp?" Kagome asked, guessing as best she could.

Another nod.

"What for?"

The black-furred wolf stared flatly at the schoolgirl. As realisation crossed Kagome's face, Ryoga lifted his left paw - if he moved his right he'd hit Kirara with his elbow - and dragged it sideways in the dirt in front of him, hoping this would work.

Kagome followed his paw and her eyes widened. Ryoga had managed to write the character for 'water'. It was a bit messy, but legible. "Oh, so she went to get some water?" she asked for clarification.

Ryoga quickly nodded his head gratefully, praying that Kagome wouldn't ask him anything else until he changed back.

"Thanks!" she said, grinning cheerfully. Moving away from the cursed boy, she began to dig through her backpack for some breakfast. A few minutes later, Kagome had assembled some instant ramen and a camp stove. Busying herself with the cup ramen, she softly hummed a tune as she worked.

A minute or two later, the smell of cooking ramen was wafting about the campsite. Inuyasha's nose twitched once before the aroma prompted him to get up, Miroku following suit. Shippo stubbornly clung to sleep until he, too, could no longer resist the lure of a cooked noodle breakfast. Shippo's loud, happy shout of "Breakfast!" was what finally awoke Kirara. The little demon-cat yawned, stretched and stood. She mewed loudly and rubbed against Ryoga's shoulder before pouncing on Shippo. The two were still playfully wrestling when Sango walked back into camp.

"Oh, good morning guys! I didn't expect to see you all up; Ryoga was the only one awake when I left," the demon slayer said.

"Well, now we're all awake so how about we stop talking and start eating?"

"Inuyasha!"

"Feh."

* * *

Akane, Ranma and Ukyo were huddled in the small clearing Ranma had claimed as his stake-out spot. All three had risen early to eavesdrop on the occupants of the Higurashi household. This time, however, three sets of ears had yielded some results.

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Ranma said with a frown, looking very irritated. "All ya gotta do is jump in the stupid well and it does the rest?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard," Akane replied while shrugging.

"But I already tried that!"

Akane blinked. "You did?"

"Yes!" Ranma half-shouted, trying to contain his temper. "I jumped in the well yesterday and absolutely nothin' happened!"

"Well, the little boy that was talking about it said he wished he could go through the well. Maybe it doesn't let everybody use it?" Akane reasoned, unusually calm.

Ukyo stood up suddenly, a fist clenched in front of her. "Why don't we find out?" she asked, grinning determinedly. _'If Ranchan wants to get through that well, then I'm gonna help him!'_

Ranma nodded. "Right, follow me." Bounding off, Ranma led the two girls to the well house. The three slipped inside and Ranma stood beside the well, partially leaning on it.

"I wonder if it'll let me through," Akane said as she walked over to stand near her fiancé.

"You said that all ya gotta do is jump in, so why not give it a shot? If it didn't let _me_ through though, you'll stand no chance," the pigtailed martial artist commented. He had his hands folded behind his head and his eyes were closed.

Akane's aura flared up immediately, surrounding her with an unholy red glow. "Ranma…" she ground out threateningly. It was all the warning the boy had before a mallet impacted with his head, driving him face-first into the ground.

"Ow…" he managed to say, twitching slightly.

"I'll show you!" Akane declared, standing directly in front of the well.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what do you think? Good, bad, fudge-covered canary popcorn? Sorry, just wanted to see if you were paying attention to this! And now I've left you all wondering if _Akane_ can get through the well this time. Yes, I'm just that evil.

I know, nothing much really happened in this chapter. Still, at least all you curious reviewers that have asked now know that Ryoga still has his directional curse. According to Rumiko herself, it's actually a family curse that's passed down through the generations. A bit of trivia for you if you didn't already know.

**NOTE:** If you want to know when the next chapter is coming out, head to my profile and scroll down until you find the section '**Story Updates**'. I'll have my current progress posted there and I update it regularly.

Many thanks to **UpperClassK9** for being a great beta and friend! -hugs-

If you've taken the time to read this chapter, please spare a minute or two to tell me what you think. Reviews always help me to write more!


	6. Hunter and Hunted

**A/N:** Yay, sixth chapter is finally out! (Again, sorry for the wait!) Will Akane make it through? What about Ukyo? How is the IY gang adjusting to having a directionally challenged, Jusenkyo-cursed martial artist along for the ride? How is Ryoga handling being a predator instead of prey? Why am I asking you, how are _you_ supposed to know? Well, all you have to do is read on to find out, then you _will_ know!

Beta'd by **UpperClassK9**, who did an absolutely fantastic job! -hugs-

**Disclaimer:** I want the Ranma ½ OVAs on DVD! If I was the wonderful and brilliant Rumiko Takahashi, I would already own them! Besides, if you sue me, I'm afraid you won't get much. I am very poor and jobless.

**NOTE:** If you want to know when the next chapter is coming out, head to my profile and scroll down until you find the section '**Story Updates**'. I'll have my current progress posted there and I update it regularly.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"_Wolf speak/other"_

**Recap:** A minute or two later, the smell of cooking ramen was wafting about the campsite. Inuyasha's nose twitched once before the aroma prompted him to get up, Miroku following suit. Shippo stubbornly clung to sleep until he, too, could no longer resist the lure of a cooked noodle breakfast. Shippo's loud, happy shout of "Breakfast!" was what finally awoke Kirara. The little demon-cat yawned, stretched and stood. She mewed loudly and rubbed against Ryoga's shoulder before pouncing on Shippo. The two were still playfully wrestling when Sango walked back into camp.

"Oh, good morning guys! I didn't expect to see you all up; Ryoga was the only one awake when I left," the demon slayer said.

"Well, now we're all awake so how about we stop talking and start eating?"

"Inuyasha!"

"Feh."

* * *

"I wonder if it'll let me through," Akane said as she walked over to stand near her fiancé.

"You said that all ya gotta do is jump in, so why not give it a shot? If it didn't let _me_ through though, you'll stand no chance," the pigtailed martial artist commented. He had his hands folded behind his head and his eyes were closed.

Akane's aura flared up immediately, surrounding her with an unholy red glow. "Ranma…" she ground out threateningly. It was all the warning the boy had before a mallet impacted with his head, driving him face-first into the ground.

"Ow…" he managed to say, twitching slightly.

"I'll show you!" Akane declared, standing directly in front of the well.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Hunter and Hunted**

"Now this I _gotta_ see!" Ranma said as he lifted his head out of the impression it had left in the ground.

Akane ignored him as best she could and, taking a moment to steel herself, vaulted over the well's edge, quickly falling into its depths. A jarring shudder ran through her body as her feet hit the ground with a little more force than she had intended, making her wince. Slowly straightening up, Akane craned her neck to peer upwards. Her gaze was met by Ranma's smirking face. Fuming at his cockiness, Akane climbed out of the well with the help of a rope ladder.

Ranma was about to gloat, but caught himself just in time. _'That tomboy hits pretty hard and she's already swung at me today. My head still hurts! I hope this headache doesn't last long.'_

"I guess the well isn't going to let either of us in," Akane said, trying to preserve the last of her dignity. Ranma's smug demeanour was not helping. "Maybe it only lets you through if you're with Kagome or that dog guy?"

"I just can't believe Ryoga's a half-demon! He was standing right in front of me and I didn't notice! Did his 'wolf-y accessories' suit him at least?" Ukyo suddenly asked. She hadn't commented on it earlier, but now she had the urge to see Ryoga's new look for herself.

Akane nodded at the chef. "Funnily enough, they did. Then again, he was technically born that way, so he was always supposed to look like that. It explains why he's always had long canine teeth," she said in a satisfied way. Ryoga's 'fangs' had always intrigued her. It made perfect sense now that she knew they actually _were_ fangs.

"Well, I guess I'll give the well a shot. There's no harm in trying, right?" Ukyo said, smiling shyly at her fiancé. Making sure her spatula was strapped on properly, and once satisfied that it was, she vaulted the well's edge.

Ukyo was not expecting anything to happen, so when a bright blue glow flared to life, completely surrounding her, she could not help the startled gasp that tore itself from her throat. She hardly felt like she was falling anymore. It was more like she was simply floating slowly downwards on an invisible current. The glow started to fade and Ukyo shut her eyes.

Ranma and Akane had both seen the light and had jumped back, startled, when it erupted from the well. When the light was gone, Ranma ran over to the edge and peered into its dark depths. He saw nothing; there was neither hide nor hair of Ukyo. "Ucchan!" he half-yelled. There was no reply.

"She…she made it through!" Akane said, clearly shocked by this development.

Ranma, too, was shocked. Why had the well rejected him and Akane yet let Ukyo through? "That is _SO_ unfair!" he whined, death-glaring the offensive - to him anyway - well.

* * *

After a few seconds of frightening nothingness, Ukyo's ears could pick up the soft chatter of birdsong. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw nothing but a blue sky and a couple of sparse white clouds beyond the well's lip. She jumped up and down a couple of times, unable to contain her joy. She had done it! The well may not have let her beloved through, but the fact that it had rejected Akane and accepted her must mean something!

"Oh, no," she whispered, standing stock still. "I don't have anything with me!" She had her portable okonomiyaki grill of course, but that wouldn't do her much good here.

Coming to a decision, Ukyo hauled herself out of the structure and jumped straight back in when her feet had cleared the edge and touched the ground. The same blue glow, streaked with strands of white that she had failed to notice the first time, once again surrounded her.

* * *

After Kagome had kindly fished out some clean clothes for him, Miroku had poured some hot water over him while the two were behind some bushes so the girls didn't catch an eyeful. Ryoga dressed quickly - he was used to dressing speedily - and promptly walked over to Sango.

Sango simply eyed him oddly, wondering what he was doing or what he wanted. She was unprepared for him to bow before her, though.

"Thank you for taking care of my stuff," he said a little awkwardly. "I really appreciate it." Straightening up, he avoided looking at her, his usual bashfulness around pretty girls beginning to kick in. It wouldn't do to suddenly start stuttering his head off and babbling like an idiot. He was trying to make a good impression on these people; start over with a clean slate so to speak.

"Oh, um…you're welcome," Sango replied, obviously taken aback by his politeness.

"Are we all ready to go now?" Inuyasha asked with impatience, a touch snidely.

Kagome stared at him reprovingly, but said, "Yes."

After a quick pack-up of camp, the group was on their way, walking with no clear destination in mind. They had no leads on Naraku's whereabouts and Koga was also travelling, making it virtually impossible to know where he was.

Ryoga's thoughts, however, were focused on something much simpler. _'My shoes feel really uncomfortable for some reason. I know they're comfy shoes, I've had them for ages… the problem is that I just don't feel… Right, wearing them. Is this a half-demon thing or is it because my demon half is that of a wolf?'_ Without breaking stride, Ryoga took his shoes off and swung his backpack around, unbuckling it, sliding in his shoes, and closing it in one smooth motion. The ground was a little rough against his bare feet, but he felt so much better like this and grinned at the strange - yet nice - feeling. Inuyasha caught his eye and Ryoga swore he saw a brief flash of understanding approval in the half dog-demon's gaze.

The others, too, had noticed what their newest companion had done but did not comment, unsure what to make of it. Inuyasha knew perfectly well why the half wolf-demon had decided to go barefoot and was wondering why Ryoga hadn't ditched his shoes earlier. Canines of any kind, unless they're bred for that sort of thing, do not like anything covering their paws. The sensitive pads are able to pick up vibrations through the earth and canine half-demons are no exception. The soles of their feet are not quite as sensitive, but having something in the way - like shoes - is a major annoyance to any type of canine as it hinders this ability. How Sesshomaru could stand to wear shoes was a mystery to his younger half-brother.

They were all happily enjoying their lunch by the side of a small stream when an intruder wandered amongst them.

It was a very young wolf; a partly grown pup that looked to be only a few months old. Her fur was a light brown colour that turned into a dirty white on her underside and she still had the blue eyes of a pup. The young female was staring at the rabbit Inuyasha and Ryoga had snagged earlier that was still hanging above the fire. It whined hungrily, but did not come closer; wary of the strange creatures that guarded its intended meal.

"Great, another wolf," Inuyasha muttered before waving his hands at the pup to shoo it away.

"Inuyasha, leave the poor thing alone! It's only a baby and all it wants is some food," Kagome scolded before turning to their uninvited guest. "Isn't that right?" she asked the wary pup, holding out a warm piece of meat in her hand. The pup made no move other than a twitch of the nose as she took in the meat's aroma. Her pack had warned her about those who were not wolf; they were not to be trusted.

Shippo inched towards her and she yipped sharply while taking a step or two backwards, only being a couple of inches bigger than the young fox-demon and feeling threatened by him. "Jeez, I only wanted to help," Shippo said, slinking back to sit beside Kagome and staring sulkily at the little wolf.

Ryoga decided to see if he would have better luck. "Hey there, we're not going to hurt you," he crooned softly, holding his hand out the same as Kagome had done; a tender morsel of warm rabbit nestled in his palm.

The little female sniffed the air and cautiously slunk around the outskirts of the group until she was only near Ryoga. She lowered herself onto her stomach and wriggled forward a few centimetres as though waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, she yipped again. _"You smell like wolf! You look funny, though!"_

Ryoga's jaw dropped and he did a double-take, his ears flicking forward and sticking straight up in surprise. _'The wolf just spoke to me…'_ he thought in wonder and confusion. Ignoring what could be interpreted as an insult; he extended his arm once more, but did not say anything this time.

The little girl continued shuffling forward until she was in reach of his hand. At a speed that Ranma would be jealous of, she snatched the meat and ran a few steps away before guzzling it down. The gob of meat vanished in an instant and she turned around to stare imploringly at Ryoga, silently begging for more.

"How did you do that?" Kagome asked, slightly jealous of her new friend.

"I-I…I'm not sure…" he replied haltingly. "Didn't you hear her speak?"

Sango and Miroku both looked at him. "Speak? If you mean the yapping, then yes," Miroku answered.

"No, I heard words," he said, frowning in worry. "Is that bad?"

Miroku looked at him in shock, but then smiled calmly. "Why, no, it's perfectly normal now that I think about it. Koga could communicate with his wolves, could he not?" he asked, directing the question at Kagome. She was the one who had spent the most time with the Wolf Prince after all.

"Hey, yeah, he could!" she exclaimed, staring at Ryoga with a wide, happy smile to reassure the nervous boy.

"Huh, that's no help unless he asks a wolf who knows of Naraku's whereabouts," Inuyasha commented, bored.

"_Who?"_ the pup asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Naraku," Ryoga answered automatically. He realised what he had done after catching the others' surprised stares. "Oops," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his clean hand.

"_I've heard of him, my pack says he's a very bad demon!"_ she whimpered, sitting down and curling her tail around her legs as her ears lowered in fright.

Ryoga's own ears flicked straight up after hearing this, prompting Kagome to ask what was wrong. "Nothing's wrong. She said that her pack says Naraku's a very bad demon. Hey, do you know where this bad demon lives?" he asked before someone had the chance to tell him to ask her.

"_No, but the Alpha left the den ages ago to find him and avenge our fallen comrades,"_ she replied, sounding more mature for a moment.

"What did she say?" Sango inquired.

Ryoga dutifully repeated the young wolf's words and watched as his companions gained various expressions ranging from curiosity to disbelief. "Uh…are you all okay?"

"That sounds suspiciously like Koga," Miroku told him.

"_Koga?"_ the pup parroted. _"You know Prince Koga?!"_ she shouted, leaping to her paws and openly gawking at them as her tail wagged to and fro.

Ryoga inclined his head towards the others. "Is this Koga guy a prince?"

"Yes, he is the prince of one of the wolf-demon tribes," said Miroku. "We helped him defeat some long-time enemies of his tribe; the Birds of Paradise. He kidnapped Kagome so that she could locate a sacred jewel shard that the leader of the birds had."

The little wolf trotted closer to the group, gazing at them in a new light. _"You're Sister Kagome?!"_ she barked in awe, staring intently at the nonplussed schoolgirl.

"Translation, please?" Kagome asked.

"She called you 'Sister Kagome'," he explained, also staring at her, though more in confusion than any else.

Sango nodded thoughtfully to herself. "If she's calling Kagome her sister, then she must be from Koga's pack. You don't think she knows where he is, do you?"

The pup considered as Ryoga redirected the question to her. _"No, sorry, none of the pack has seen him in a while. A bunch of us went hunting a couple of days ago because they were starting to teach us pups how to hunt. I got separated from them and I don't know the way back to the den. Please take me with you, it's scary being on my own!"_ she howled desperately, bounding right up to Ryoga and lying submissively in front of him.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the pup's behaviour. "She's tryin' to get somethin' outta you, huh?"

Ryoga blushed faintly. "She, uh, wants to come with us because she got separated from her pack and doesn't know the way back to the den. This isn't my decision though; it's up to you guys if you want her along or not. She says they left to go hunting a couple of days ago, so the place can't be that far away, right? Oh, she also said none of them have seen Koga in a while," he said, resisting the urge to fidget on the spot from all the attention.

"Perhaps one of the wolf demons knows more about Koga's whereabouts or, at the very least, have some sort of idea of where he may be," Miroku said, turning to the others for their opinions.

Sango nodded while saying, "It's possible."

"Well, it looks like we're taking a side trip!" Kagome cheerfully announced. She was mostly happy about the fact that they now had an actual destination instead of wandering aimlessly.

The group finished their lunch - Ryoga tossing a few more small chunks of meat to the wolf pup - and started heading toward a mountain that was reasonably close. Koga's den was situated on a mountain, so this one was their best bet as it was closest and only two or three days worth of travelling would see them reaching it.

While walking, Kagome hung back a bit until she drew level with Ryoga who was walking behind everyone else so as not to become lost. The wolf pup was happily trotting at Ryoga's heels and seemed to pay attention only to him. Kagome bent over a little - still walking - and smiled at the pup before saying, "You know my name, but I'm afraid I don't know yours."

"_Akiyuki," _the young female yipped in answer.

Kagome straightened her back and stared at Ryoga, waiting for him to translate. She became even more curious to know what her name was when she saw Ryoga's expression. He was smiling slightly, nodding to himself.

"What a pretty name," he said absently. "Her name is Akiyuki," he added, catching Kagome's curious stare.

"Really? Wow, that _is_ a pretty name! Nice to properly meet you, Akiyuki," she said, smiling gently at the pup.

Akiyuki did not reply, but her tail gained a bit of a wag to it.

* * *

"Are ya sure you wanna do this, Ucchan?" Ranma asked.

The okonomiyaki chef nodded. "Of course I'm sure, Ranchan, I'm doing this for you after all," she replied with an exasperated smile. He had asked her the same question many times before; the entire time she was packing after agreeing to meet up with Ryoga and spying on the Lost Boy for him.

"I still don't get why the well let you through, but not us," Akane said with a thoughtful frown. "Could you…could you bring me back something as a souvenir?" she asked the chef, her hands clasped in front of her while she gazed inquiringly at the other girl.

"I don't get it either, Akane, but sure, I'll bring you back something if I can," Ukyo replied, smiling at the disappointed blue-haired girl.

"Thanks!" Akane said with as much cheer as she could muster.

Ukyo double-checked her pack's straps to make sure they were fastened properly before hefting it onto her shoulders. "I have no idea when I'll be back, so could you two look after the restaurant for me? You don't have to be there every day, just a few times a week, okay?"

"Sure, Ucchan, leave it to us," said Ranma, flashing a lazy grin her way.

"Right, well…goodbye then!" Having said her farewell, Ranma's 'cute' fiancée leapt back into the well. She kept her eyes open this time and gazed in awe as the lights flared up to transport her between times. The sensation felt a bit like floating in water, only it wasn't cold and wet. The lights faded and Ukyo softly landed at the bottom of the well. A quick glance upwards assured her that she had, indeed, gone back in time.

After clambering out of the well for the third time that day, Ukyo took the time to observe her surroundings. It reminded of her of when she used to be on the road, travelling alone and training while searching for the Saotomes. As much as Ukyo loved her restaurant, she preferred to travel with her cart, taking in the sights and sounds of the countryside.

'_Of course, it would help if I knew where I was in this day and age…'_ she mentally grumbled, looking around, but unable to figure out where she was. Shifting her gaze down, Ukyo noticed a slightly worn trail that wound away from the dry well. Grinning in victory, the okonomiyaki chef struck out, sticking to the faint, winding trail as best she could. After a while of walking through an endless parade of trees, Ukyo came to a stop; she could see what appeared to be a village. Not wanting to waste any time, Ukyo made a beeline for it.

'_I'm not sure if I've ever seen so many rice fields in one spot before!'_ she thought, awed by the stretches of watery fields that surrounded the cluster of wooden houses. _'This really IS medieval Japan… How could a simple dry well transport people through time?'_ This question baffled her, but thinking of temporal mechanics made her brain hurt and she stopped not long after. This sort of mystery was best left to scientists.

Upon reaching the village outskirts, she was hailed by one of the village men. He approached her cautiously, eyeing her clothing and nodding slightly to himself. "Are you another of the priestess's friends?" he asked, holding the hoe he had been using loosely in both hands.

"Huh?"

The man gripped his implement a little tighter before speaking. "Our priestess, bless her, brought a strangely dressed lad with her on her last visit. Since you, lass, wear the same kind of strange clothing, I assumed you knew her. If you are not a friend of Lady Kagome, then state your business," he said in a hard tone.

"I know Kagome," Ukyo replied, ready to grab her spatula if the need arose. "Did the strange boy she have with her wear a yellow top, really dark green pants with ties around the calves and a yellow and black bandanna? He has black-furred wolf ears and a tail as well."

The villager let his grip slacken and smiled at her. "So you _do_ know the priestess? Yes, the strange young fellow that followed her out of Inuyasha's forest looked as exactly as you just described him. He a friend of yours, lass?"

Ignoring the sly looks - implying that she was more than a friend - that the farmer was sending her way, Ukyo nodded. "I wouldn't really call Ryoga my _friend_…but we get along well enough, I guess. You wouldn't happen to know where Ryoga and Kagome are, would you?"

"Nay, lass. Lady Kagome and her friends left here a few days back and I couldn't tell you where they were bound, sorry."

"That's okay," she said, even as her spirits dampened. She had hoped that they were still near to the well; Ukyo did not look forward to the prospect of traipsing the feudal countryside looking for them. The chef prayed, with every fibre of her being, that the others managed to keep Ryoga with them so that he didn't become hopelessly lost. "Could you point me in the direction they went?"

"Sure thing, lass. When they left the village, they were bound that-a-way," he answered, pointing with a work-worn, calloused finger.

"Thank you!" Ukyo chirped as she headed in the indicated direction.

When the girl was out of sight, the man stood his hoe upright and leaned upon it. "Good luck looking for that group of misfits, lass. Though, judging from your strange attire and that large silver bit of metal strapped to your back, you'll fit in with them no problem." Shaking his head, the man chuckled and went back to the fields in which he had been working.

* * *

Night was setting in, but Inuyasha pushed the small group further, wanting to get as much ground covered as possible before they lost too much light. When the darkness blanketed the ground, they halted at a glade that was hemmed in on one side by a natural wall of rocks. Settling themselves down, they launched straight into setting up camp.

Miroku went to gather whatever firewood he could find, Inuyasha stood guard, keeping his ears alert for any strange sounds, while Sango helped Kagome to prepare the food. Kirara watched the girls with Shippo; the pair eagerly staring at the food as though their gazes would cook it faster. Ryoga sat cross-legged a few feet away, frowning as he was unable to help. If he went to gather firewood, there was no guarantee that he would find his way back to the campsite and the girls had the meal well in hand.

Akiyuki, sensing his sadness, trotted over and laid her head on his knee. Her tail was wagging slowly and she looked at him. _"Is something wrong, Ryoga?"_

During the walk towards the mountain, everyone had been introduced to the wolf pup. Likewise, they now knew her name. She liked them all, barring some timidness around the brash Inuyasha, but the young wolf firmly stuck to Ryoga's side. Even though Kagome was basically a part of her pack, the schoolgirl did not smell the least bit like a wolf, and that made Akiyuki shy away from her a little.

Ryoga, not wanting anyone to hear him, whispered, "No, I'm okay." while hesitantly stroking the ruff of fur around her neck and shoulders. Since she made no objections, he continued, running his hands all the way down her back.

Akiyuki was enjoying herself immensely; the demons of her pack patted her in similar ways, but only one kindly female back at her den was as soft and gentle as Ryoga. The young wolf sighed and climbed fully into the cursed martial artist's lap, accidentally tangling her paw in one of his leg ties.

Shippo and Kirara, having grown bored watching Sango and Kagome fuss about, found their attention drawn towards to the struggling wolf and half wolf-demon. Akiyuki was holding as still as she could while Ryoga gently took a hold of her paw and tried to work it free.

Shippo bounded over, Kirara right on his furry heels, and said, "Hey, need a hand?"

Ryoga looked at the little kitsune and nodded. "If I move my leg, do you think you can untie the knots holding the cord? You have smaller hands and fingers; it shouldn't be a problem for you."

Shippo drew himself up to his full height proudly. Once Ryoga had straightened out his leg, carefully moving Akiyuki along with it, the young fox-demon went to work; his nimble fingers making short work of the knots. He grabbed the cords, walking backwards with them until he reached the wolf pup. Uncrossing them, he freed Akiyuki's paw.

"_Thanks,"_ she yipped gratefully, sitting on her haunches and licking her paw a couple of times.

"You're welcome," Shippo replied, having guessed what she said. "Do you…want to play with me?" he asked her in a hesitant manner. She had backed away from him the first time he tried to approach her and he was unsure if she would accept his close company even now.

Knowing he wouldn't understand her reply, she pounced on him playfully to get her answer across.

Grinning widely, Shippo rolled over and bounded after her.

Kirara brushed herself against Ryoga's bare, outstretched foot before leaping after the youngsters with an indignant "Mew!" at being left behind.

Ryoga chuckled softly to himself, a small, yet truly happy, smile adorning his face. He watched the three play, feeling more content than he could ever remember being.

Kirara eagerly leapt into the fray, landing upon Shippo's head before springing off and pinning the end of Akiyuki's tail to the ground with her front paws. Her two tails waved in pleasure at her small victory before one of them became immobilised. Glancing back, Kirara found Shippo holding one of her tails still; a playful grin etched on his face.

This momentary distraction was all Akiyuki needed to wiggle her tail free. Spinning around, the wolf pup licked inside one of Kirara's ears, the feeling of her tongue causing Kirara to cry out in discomfort. The demonic cat could not escape this torture as Shippo was still holding her tail hostage; the other frantically waving about. Akiyuki yapped happily, announcing her vengeance, while Shippo giggled uncontrollably.

The amount of noise the trio was making caused Kagome and Sango to divert their attention away from their task. Once they saw what was going on, however, they simply smiled, shook their heads and turned back to the food. A moment later, the two girls were once again watching the play fight. They had finished setting everything up and could do no more until Miroku returned with the firewood.

"About time, monk," Inuyasha grumbled in a half-hearted manner a minute or two later.

Miroku ignored his companion in such a way that implied that he had done so many times before. He went straight to the two girls and gently set down his armload of firewood. "Here you are, ladies."

Sango merely nodded her thanks while Kagome said, "Thanks, Miroku."

The demon slayer grabbed the bundle of various-sized branches and set about forming them into a pile that would easily catch alight. Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, Sango called out to Shippo.

The little kitsune looked up with a fair bit of effort. Kirara had helped force Shippo into a position where Akiyuki could easily hold him down. Unfortunately for the fox, the cat and the wolf had him pinned facedown in the dirt. "What's up, Sango?" he said, the words sounding a bit muffled.

"The fire, if you would," Sango said, indicating the stack of wood in front of her. Ever since Shippo had joined them, it had become his job to light the campfire. It saved Kagome from using her matches and it cut the time it would take to use tinder and flint or some other means.

"Yeah, just give me a second," came the muffled reply.

Kirara knew that she had to let Shippo up; long enough to light campfire at least. As soon as he had done his task, Kirara planned to continue playing until the food was ready. She may be a centuries-old demon, but she was still a cat and cats, no matter their age, like to play. Kirara got off Shippo's fluffy tail without a fuss.

Akiyuki, however, did not want to have her victory so short-lived and, with a bit of persuasion from Kirara, let Shippo up with a fair bit of reluctance. Feeling saddened by her play being cut shorter than she would have liked the brown and white wolf pup, tail hanging limply, trotted over and sat by Ryoga.

Shippo happily pried himself off the ground and walked over to the stack of wood. Letting his demonic energy well up in his right hand, Shippo extended it and blue-green flames shot forth, catching on the dry wood and setting it ablaze.

"Thanks, Shippo," Kagome said, Sango also thanking the little kitsune.

"No problem," Shippo replied, happy to help out and proud to be doing something that he was better at than everyone else.

Seeing that Shippo was done with his daily task, Kirara went back on the attack. Prowling around behind Inuyasha so that the young fox-demon would not see her coming, Kirara began working out the best angle of approach.

Inuyasha had his amber eyes trained upon her, waiting to see what she had planned. Sweeping his gaze over the campsite in a seemingly disinterested way, Inuyasha took note of where Shippo and Akiyuki were. Despite the fact that Kirara could not speak human, Inuyasha knew she was very intelligent and he respected her. Not really one to strategise, Inuyasha would readily watch Kirara devise her own strategies and put them into action; he found the practise quite entertaining when she was forming a strategy outside of a life-or-death battle.

The demonic sabre-cat adjusted her angle of approach by a few millimetres. Crouching down a little further, her chest fur touching the ground, Kirara twitched her two tails in small, jerky motions before propelling herself forward, powerful back legs acting like a spring.

Shippo let loose a wail of surprise and dismay as something collided with his back and he found himself face first in the dirt again.

Kirara mewed happily and, tails waving jauntily, pranced off Shippo and sat beside Sango before Shippo could rise and retaliate.

Inuyasha smirked and inwardly laughed. _'Wouldn't it be great if I could get the drop on Sesshomaru like that and humiliate him?' _The silver-haired half-demon amused himself with various imaginative scenarios of such a thing happening.

Miroku sat down on the other side of Ryoga so as not to scare Akiyuki. "So, how do you find it here in this era?" he suddenly asked, snapping Ryoga out of his far away state of mind; Ryoga had been staring unseeingly across the campsite.

"Huh? Oh, uh… It's nice," Ryoga answered lamely.

"Nice?"

Ryoga nodded. "Everything here seems so…untouched. In my time, there are few places left with no mark of human domination; the areas still populated by nature are usually reserves of some kind or tourist areas. Even though there is the odd building scattered here and there out here, they're made of wood and blend in to a degree. There's practically no cement, except for big castles or something, and I find it a really nice change from my time where cement is almost everywhere in some form or another," he explained as well as he could, not sure if the monk fully understood what he was trying to get across.

"I think I understand what you're saying," Miroku replied. "What do you make of all the demons? It's very dangerous in this time."

"You know, it's not really all that different compared to my time in terms of danger. At least here you don't have to worry about being hit by a car or something," Ryoga said with a slightly morbid chuckle. Their conversation was cut short as Sango and Kagome announced that dinner was ready.

The oddly assorted group made small talk while eating, Inuyasha and Kagome getting into a trivial argument while Sango guarded her backside from the amorous hand of the monk she was sitting next to. Shippo and Kirara stayed well out of it, minding their own business. Akiyuki ignored her new travelling companions in favour of the food that was presented to her and Ryoga tried to copy her. Unfortunately, he was unable to block out his companions' antics as well as the wolf pup and had to fight the urge to roll his eyes or laugh depending on which couple he was listening to at the time.

Once everyone had eaten and everything had been washed in a river that ran roughly parallel to their course, they settled down for the night. Kirara slept curled next to Sango, Shippo was sleeping next to Kagome's head and Akiyuki had decided to spend the night curled up to Ryoga's chest so that his heartbeat was clear to her ears, reminding her of her littermates when they had all slept curled beside one another for warmth and comfort.

The night passed uneventfully for the group, the only sounds from their campsite being snores and murmurs. They roused themselves fairly early, not long after dawn, and were walking about an hour later after a light breakfast. The weather turned gradually cloudier and things continued like this until roughly midafternoon, just when the sun was not too far off from beginning to set. It was at this time that the group found themselves surrounded by unfriendly amber-gold eyes. An angry snarl ripped through the air.

"_What have you done with the pup?"_ the snarl demanded. At this question, many other voices were raised.

"_Not only do they smell of the pup, they smell of cooked meat!"_

"_The savages must have eaten her!"_

"_Murderers!"_

"_Pup-killers!"_

"_Tear out their throats!"_

"_Let their guts decorate the ground!"_

The companions began to feel more nervous every passing second as more howls and snarls sounded forth. Though most of them could not understand what was being said, it was not hard to figure out the general gist of it.

Unable to bear the threatening howls any longer, which were becoming increasingly more disturbing in mental imagery, Ryoga stepped forward and cried, "Wait!"

The howls died down until only muted growls remained. _"Speak your piece and speak it quickly, half-breed murderer!"_ said a dark brown wolf, his muzzle starting to grey with age, as he stepped out of the cover of the trees.

Ryoga recognised the voice as the wolf who had spoken first. _'He must be the leader.' _Ryoga bristled a little at being called 'half-breed', but let it slide. "The pup you keep mentioning… Is her name, by any chance, Akiyuki?"

The muted growls rose in volume, sounding worried and angry at the same time.

"_Yes,"_ the leaderwolf replied warily.

"Oh, good, looks like we found you then. She's right here and she's safe. She asked us to accompany her back to her home," Ryoga quickly explained, stepping aside and allowing Akiyuki to walk forward.

The pup happily bounded forward and rubbed her muzzle against the older wolf. Slowly, more wolves emerged to reunite with their young pack member, though they kept flicking wary gazes to the group every so often.

"What was all the howling about?" Kagome asked quietly.

Ryoga shook his head. "You don't want to know, trust me," he replied grimly, looking faintly sick. He remembered holding a walnut once and crushing it, vowing to do the same to Ranma Saotome's throat. Ryoga decided to ease off on such threats against Ranma now that he knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of those threats.

The leaderwolf walked up to the group, his nose in the air, sampling it. _"You,"_ he started, his eyes landing on Kagome, _"you are the human female Prince Koga has claimed. On behalf of the entire pack, I thank you, and you, half-wolf, for returning Akiyuki to us,"_ he finished, dipping his head slightly. The action might not have meant much to a human, but it signified something important to a wolf, especially as it was the leaderwolf who was bowing.

Not knowing what to say, Ryoga simply bowed back, his ears and tail unconsciously flicking down to rest lower than the old wolf was holding his. The rest followed Ryoga's cue and bowed as well, making sure that the wolves knew they were friendly.

"Um, excuse me; we were wondering if any of you know where Koga is?" Kagome managed to ask in a fairly steady voice.

"_I'm afraid not, Sister Kagome. It grieves me to disappoint you so,"_ the leaderwolf said in an apologetic tone. _"You may rest with us for the night if you wish. There is safety in numbers and I know demons love to prey upon humans."_

Giving an imperceptible sigh at having to play translator, Ryoga repeated the answer and offer to his companions. He waited as patiently as he could while deliberations flew back and forth. Finally Miroku stepped forward.

"We accept your gracious offer," the monk said, discreetly slipping a sutra back into the folds of his robe. Inuyasha had protested about staying with the wolves. He had argued that he could not stand the stench and that he was perfectly capable of fending off any demons that dared to attack them. The others had overruled him and he hadn't liked it until Miroku changed his mind with a subtle threat about 'misplacing his sutra'.

"_There is a cave not far from here that is large enough for us all. We will need the shelter, there is a large storm approaching,"_ the old wolf said, turning and trotting away with the rest of the wolf pack following faithfully.

Ryoga also walked after the pack, gesturing for the others to follow. "He says there's a large storm coming and he's leading to us a cave were we can all ride it out."

The others simply nodded, bar Inuyasha, and walked in silence, listening to the wolves ahead of them fawn over Akiyuki. They had only been walking for a few minutes when several drops of rain hit them. Ryoga grimaced, but did not draw his umbrella; the rain was too light to trigger his curse. A peal of thunder boomed somewhere above them; the only warning they had before the light sprinkling became a sudden downpour.

The wolves picked up the pace, running in a straight line so that they did not lose sight of one another. The demon slayer, schoolgirl, kitsune, demon cat and half-demon ran ahead while Miroku stayed behind to help Ryoga wriggle out of his clothes and to carry his things. The two hurried to catch up to their friends.

Continuing to run for a few minutes more, everyone eventually ran into a natural cave that was about the size of a modest house. The wolves, Inuyasha, Shippo and Kirara all shook off while Kagome and Sango wrung out their hair as best they could. The wolves huddled together and lay down, their body warmth creating a natural blanket. Sango wandered further toward the back of the cave in search of any dry twigs or bark; a small fire would be better than nothing. She returned bearing a small armful just as Miroku entered the cave beside an equally drenched black wolf.

"Poor Ryoga," Kagome said sympathetically, beckoning both boys over. They accepted the invitation willingly, though Ryoga shook off as much water from his fur as he could first before plunking himself down next to Inuyasha. Kagome dug around for her camp stove and set it up, walking to the cave's edge and letting the rain fill up the kettle she used for heating water for instant ramen.

Akiyuki, though incredibly happy to be back with her pack, wanted to spend a bit more time with her new friends before they parted ways. When she reached the group, however, she was confused as to why Ryoga was missing and there was an awfully similar-smelling black wolf. Shuffling closer to the strange yet familiar wolf, Akiyuki yipped out one inquisitive word, _"Ryoga?"_

The black wolf, wearing a yellow and black patterned bandanna around his head, looked across at his name. _"Oh, hey, Akiyuki,"_ he replied as cheerfully as he could, which was to say: not very cheerful at all.

"_You look and smell all wolf now…"_ she said, very confused. She knew that the humanoid members of her pack could transform into wolves, but they had all been fairly big wolves; the smallest she had seen had been almost twice the size of a horse.

"_Yeah, long story,"_ he said, though all the non-wolves only heard a short, low whine.

Curiosity piqued, Akiyuki sauntered right up to Ryoga and slowly walked around him, examining his new form with great interest. _"You're very attractive,"_ she commented in an absent manner, squeaking when she realised what she had said and ducking behind Kagome in embarrassment, placing a paw over her muzzle and closing her eyes.

Ryoga, for his part, simply sat there, his skin burning bright crimson under his ebony fur. He shifted his weight nervously as his ears twitched without his consent. Ryoga kept his eyes trained firmly on either the ceiling of the cave or his furry forepaws, pretending to be deaf to avoid trying to answer his companions' questions in any manner possible.

Another loud boom sounded and the wind picked up, driving the rain to slant and mercilessly lash any tree the drops hit. A flash of light lit up the cloud-darkened sky, making Shippo jump and his tail fluff out. Another peal of thunder tolled through the air a few seconds later.

Kagome carefully picked up the camp stove, the kettle still resting atop it, and shuffled further into the cave, closer to the wolves. She had been unable to light it as the wind constantly thwarted her efforts. She was swiftly followed by her friends, none of whom were eager to be too close to the open mouth of their shelter.

Lightning flashed again, brighter than before, followed by a boom of thunder that seemed to shake the very earth and make their teeth rattle.

"Wow, this is some storm!" Kagome half-yelled over the noise of the rain and the echoes of the thunder that reverberated off the mountains.

Inuyasha was about to answer, likely with a sarcastic remark, but a strike of fork lightning did not give him the chance. It flashed dangerously close, and the peal of thunder that followed rumbled right over the cave. Some scree and small rocks fell down over the cave's entrance.

Another lightning bolt sizzled through the atmosphere and the resulting noise actually did shake the ground. A worrying rumbling and crashing could be heard throughout the cave, echoes bouncing off the walls and magnifying the noise by a fair multitude. Kagome gasped as what little light was still around was swallowed up by large chunks of shale quickly obscuring the cave's only exit.

Then everything was black.

* * *

**A/N:** Mwuahahaha!!! Cliffy! And you all thought I was being evil before!

So, aside from wanting to dismember me due to my evilness, what did you think of the chapter?

Don't worry, the wolves won't play a big role. I generally dislike original characters. I added Akiyuki (and the wolf pack) purely to move the plot forward. They will not be in the story long. So, to everyone out there who's thinking, 'there are OCs in this now, the story's ruined!' relax.

Also, if you're wondering, 'Akiyuki' means 'Autumn snow'. Well, I thought it was pretty and suited her colour scheme. -shrugs-

And yes, Ukyo can pass through the well! Shocker! I'd tell you my reasoning behind why she could and Ranma and Akane couldn't, but you'll find out at some point during the story anyway. I generally dislike spoilers also. (No, oddly enough, it's not because I adore the Ryoga/Ukyo pairing!)

Let me know what you think. Do you think there's something I can improve on? I want to hear your thoughts! Reviews are wonderful motivators!

~FantomoDrako


	7. Where the Wild Things Roam

**A/N:** I present to you, my good readers, chapter seven! Huge thanks to all of you who reviewed and/or put this on alert/favourite! I wish I could hug all of you!

**Disclaimer:** In no way, shape or form do I own Ranma ½ or InuYasha. I write this purely for entertainment not profit, so please don't sue me. I still don't have a job.

**NOTE:** If you want to know when the next chapter is coming out, head to my profile and scroll down until you find the section '**Story Updates**'. I'll have my current progress posted there and I update it regularly.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

"_Wolf speak/other"_

**Recap:** Lightning flashed again, brighter than before, followed by a boom of thunder that seemed to shake the very earth and make their teeth rattle.

"Wow, this is some storm!" Kagome half-yelled over the noise of the rain and the echoes of the thunder that reverberated off the mountains.

Inuyasha was about to answer, likely with a sarcastic remark, but a strike of fork lightning did not give him the chance. It flashed dangerously close, and the peal of thunder that followed rumbled right over the cave. Some scree and small rocks fell down over the cave's entrance.

Another lightning bolt sizzled through the atmosphere and the resulting noise actually did shake the ground. A worrying rumbling and crashing could be heard throughout the cave, echoes bouncing off the walls and magnifying the noise by a fair multitude. Kagome gasped as what little light was still around was swallowed up by large chunks of shale quickly obscuring the cave's only exit.

Then everything was black.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Seven: Where the Wild Things Roam**

An endless abyss of darkness yawned around them, seemingly with no end and giving one the feeling of being slowly swallowed into a black hole. After the various noises of surprise died down, the only sounds left were the soft whimpers of fright that could be heard when the thunder dimmed its fury. The darkness, coupled with the noise, felt very oppressive and stifling, increasing the fright that pervaded the cave.

Kagome dared not light her camp stove as the fire would quickly burn through the oxygen that had been trapped in the cave with them. She could hear her companions start to mutter and the wolves continue to whimper and whine. The noises of discontent were silenced when a short howl echoed through the darkness.

"_Silence!"_ the leaderwolf shouted in a commanding tone. _"Stop whimpering like frightened newborn pups and act like the wolves you are! If we keep our wits about us, we will figure a way out of this predicament. Now, does anyone have a helpful idea?"_

Kagome and her friends said nothing as they couldn't understand, but kept quiet, somehow realising that it would be for the best at the moment. They simply listened as a few barks and growls flew back and forth.

The leaderwolf called for his pack to speak one at a time. They did so in a slightly haphazard manner.

"_We could dig out,"_ suggested a male voice.

"_And break our claws trying to dig through solid rock or the ground that's almost as hard?"_ a sneering feminine voice growled back.

"_Maybe the humans could push the rocks out of the way?"_ asked a younger sounding female.

Another wolf snorted and replied, _"They may be larger than us, but their limbs are weak and spindly. I doubt they could do it."_

"_Excuse me!"_ Ryoga called loudly, his unfamiliar howl instantly attracting the attention of the entire pack.

Shippo jumped a bit, not expecting a wolf to howl so close to him. Once he realised that it must have been Ryoga, he settled down a bit, trying to catch snatches of what was being said. Being a fox-demon - a young one to boot - he was having a very hard time trying to decipher the wolves' natural speech. Being a fox, which was practically a cousin to the wolf and could understand and imitate their speech for the most part, he knew he should be able to understand them. As he was only very young and had no practice with the wolf language, it was not surprising that he was having a rough time of it. He crossed his arms and pouted at this linguistic inability.

The leaderwolf frowned at the interruption and made his way over to the unruly wolf by following his unfamiliar scent. He could just barely make out the very faintest of outlines. As wolves had wonderful night vision, the aging wolf came to the conclusion that the upstart had an incredibly dark pelt to be so indiscernible from the darkness. No wolf in his pack had such a darkly coloured pelt. _"Who are you, trespasser?"_

"_Trespasser?"_ Ryoga repeated indignantly. _"I'm no trespasser, sir; I'm the half-wolf you met earlier. My name is Ryoga, and the reason I'm all wolf now is a long story that I really don't feel like getting into, okay?"_ he explained with a touch of annoyance.

The older wolf flicked an ear back and carefully sampled the scent of the wolf in front of him. As his brain picked apart the scent, he realised that the younger wolf spoke the truth; his scent was too similar, only the human smell was mostly faded to be replaced by the stench of wet canine fur.

"_I have an idea if you'd like to hear it,"_ Ryoga said, snapping the older wolf out of his thoughts.

"_I'm all ears, young one,"_ he replied, interested to hear the idea despite his instincts telling him to drive the foreign male from the pack's territory.

"_I once used a special technique to escape from a cave-in. I'm not sure if I can perform the technique as a wolf, but I'll give it a try. I need a space in front of the entrance cleared, though."_

The leaderwolf nodded and said, _"You shall have your space."_ Slowly walking off, he barked orders at the pack to clear a semi-circular space that faced the blocked entrance. They obeyed despite their confusion, and Ryoga trotted over to stand in the middle of the semi-circle.

Sango crossed her arms for something to do. "I wish I knew what they were saying," she complained in a low, grumbling tone. Sango disliked being left out of the loop. She was obviously not the only one as her friends agreed with her.

Closing his eyes, though he didn't really need to due to the darkness, Ryoga reached within him. Finding his large reservoir of ki easily, he plunged into it instead of pushing it aside, drawing upon sad memories all the while. Unsure if he could use his ki as a wolf, he was pleasantly surprised when it responded to his will. Embracing the energy, he infused it with his negative emotions and slowly rose to his hind legs. As wolves were not made to stand upright in such a manner, Ryoga had to focus a little of his attention on remaining on two legs.

The wolves retreated a few steps, uttering surprised barks and growls, while Kagome and the others gasped. The cave was lit up with a fairly bright light, the source was Ryoga; he was surrounded by a thin aura of bluish-white light. The same wave of sadness that had washed over Sango and the others before Ryoga had gotten lost, flooded them once more.

"This is…" Sango started to say in awe. She was interrupted when Ryoga moved, his aura swirling to match his movements and making the lights on the cave walls whirl in a hypnotic dance.

Ryoga had his forelegs crossed in front of his furry chest, perfectly executing the stance needed for the technique. Ignoring the light show he had created, he stretched his forelegs horizontally in front of him, his aura swirling around his body to pool into a sphere at his paws. The ball of energy exploded forward like a fire-hose, accompanied by a howling cry of,_ "Shishi Hôkô-Dan!"_

The whole scene immediately reminded Kagome of that Dragon Ball Z anime her little brother loved so much. Before she had been dragged down the well by Mistress Centipede, Kagome had been forced to watch the anime whenever it was Sota's turn to be in charge of the television. Even in spite of all the strange things she saw demons and whatnot do with their internal energy, never had she seen it used in such a Dragon Ball Z way; fired directly forward from the hands, it usually needed to be channelled by some kind of weapon.

The heavy ki made contact with the rocks, producing a loud blast as it practically disintegrated them. A few more rocks tumbled down from their precarious perches on the top of the entrance, but landed in the mud and rolled short distances away harmlessly. Silence reigned once more, though this time it was tinged with awe and amazement instead of fear.

Feeling proud of himself for performing his strongest technique as a wolf and freeing the cave and its occupants, Ryoga let himself fall forward until he was standing on all fours again. He allowed a rare smirk to adorn his face, one that spoke of pride and confidence. It was the kind of smirk that had never failed to get under Ryoga's skin when Ranma had been wearing it during their many fights, both physical and verbal.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see someone do that for real," Kagome commented, now wishing she had paid more attention to that anime.

"That was quite an amazing phenomenon," Miroku said, trying to appear calm and collected.

"Feh." Inuyasha was also impressed, but he refused to show it. The next time he tried to teach the wolf-boy something else demonic, he would have to ask how the technique worked. Hopefully he could learn it, which would get him a surprise edge over Sesshomaru the next time they fought.

Sango simply shook her head and murmured, "Unbelievable…" If the strange boy from Kagome's time could do such a thing as a wolf, then what else was he hiding up his metaphorical sleeves?

Kirara mewed in agreement to her mistress' softly spoken statement. Kirara had known something was different about Ryoga when she had first met him, but she had attributed it to him being from the future and an unknown newcomer to their tightly-knit band. Now that she knew she had been right, Kirara intended to get to the bottom of the mystery that was her new friend.

Shippo stared at the black wolf with the bandanna. _'Now I HAVE to get him to become my bodyguard!'_

The greying wolf walked over to Ryoga and licked his muzzle affectionately, just like he would to any young wolf in his own pack. _"Well done, young one! If it pleases you, I'd like to make you an honorary member of the pack once I have obtained Prince Koga's permission," _he said almost reverently. How much stronger would their pack grow with the black-furred half-wolf around? If Prince Koga gave his permission and Ryoga agreed, the old wolf would even let him have some mating rights to produce strong pups!

Ryoga stood frozen to the spot, unable to decipher the instincts that rushed through him at that moment. Being licked on the muzzle like that had felt really good, like being hugged by Akane when he was P-chan. It had made him feel accepted and appreciated as his wolf mind recognised the praise for what it was. His human mind, however, rallied against the wolf one, practically shouting that being kissed in wolf fashion - by an old male no less! - was not acceptable in any way, and that he should pound the jerk for such a perverse act.

The old wolf, growing concerned at Ryoga's catatonic state, gently nudged the black wolf's shoulder with his nose.

"_Um, can I get back to you on the whole pack thing?"_ Ryoga asked slowly in a stunned way. His wolf mind, being much stronger in his cursed form than his human mind, had won out. Ryoga hadn't truly wanted to hurt the older wolf in such a fashion anyway.

"_Of course you can if you need to mull it over. I must ask the main Alpha first before I can do anything else, and I'm not sure how long that will take due to his unknown whereabouts,"_ the leaderwolf replied in an understanding tone.

Ryoga nodded in thanks and, resisting the urge to lick the old wolf back to show his thanks in a more wolfish way, he quickly trotted over to his companions. He ignored their questioning stares, fully intent on his mental wrestling match with his canine side. He had never had this much trouble as a pig and began to wonder if his half-_wolf_ demonic status had something to do with it. _'Does Inuyasha have canine instincts as well? I haven't seem him do anything doggish, so maybe he can teach me to control my instincts next?'_

Now that the excitement was over, sleep seemed to be the highest priority on the list for most. The wolves, unable to go hunting in the fierce storm, had no choice but to settle down to sleep. They huddled together again and most of them fell asleep swiftly. The few that remained awake continued to send quizzical glances every now and then at the non-wolf beings - and the black wolf with the strange cloth around his head that reminded them of their demonic prince.

Miroku, sensing that Ryoga would explain when he was ready - and could speak in a language he recognised again - announced to the others that they should follow the wolves' example and get some rest after having something to eat.

They agreed, though Kagome asked, "Ryoga, do you want to spend the night as a wolf?"

Not wanting to fight against the strange instincts that were surging through him any longer, Ryoga hastily shook his head and looked at the schoolgirl imploringly.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," she said with a giggle. Grabbing her little camp stove, she turned her back to the wind whistling past the entrance and managed to light the camp stove. Smiling, Kagome placed her kettle over the small flames and leaned back to wait for the water to heat up.

The dismally horrible weather had dampened their spirits a bit and none of them felt like making a big production out of their meal; something simple and easy would be preferable. Digging some dry rations out, they made do with them, making sure to get Ryoga his portion and putting aside a little extra as Akiyuki was staring at them with big, blue puppy eyes.

Akiyuki's little cutesy act immediately reminded Ryoga of when Ranma would eat out as a girl, scamming free food off the poor, unsuspecting male vendors with her sparkly blue eyes, adorable voice and irresistible looks. He squished the urge to make a not-so-nice remark about the resemblance; Akiyuki had done nothing but be his friend and he was not about to ruin that relationship as he had so few real friends.

Once the food had been eaten, the group found the comfiest spots they could and lay down, trying their hardest to ignore the wind, rain and thunder. It was not easy, but most of them had little trouble as they were used to sleeping with such weather raging on.

* * *

The cloudy sky of blue and white had been replaced by the soft black of night, sprinkled liberally with tiny bright spots. The sky seemed so unrestrained and beautiful without the artificial lights of a town to partially drown out its splendour at night. Any artist with a canvas would have a fair amount of difficultly in capturing the beauty and spirit of the free, star-spangled sky.

Ukyo was staring at this gorgeous piece of artwork that Mother Nature herself had seen fit to paint. _'Ranma, are you watching the sky just as I am? Are you thinking of me as I'm thinking of you, sitting here staring at the stars? No, you're probably with Akane. You're most likely sitting with her, talking and laughing together. The only time thoughts of me will flit through your mind is when you wonder if I've caught up to Ryoga and whether or not I've learned anything of use to you yet.'_

The chef gasped as she shook the slanderous thoughts out of her head.

'_The quicker I find that big lug and spy on him til I learn something, the quicker I can go back and be with Ranchan!'_

Ukyo almost regretted volunteering herself for this. Things would be much simpler for her if she had not been able to pass through that accursed well. Wishing that it was Akane who was wandering around alone in the Feudal Era and herself back in her own time with her fiancé, Ukyo gave a displeased huff and settled into her sleeping bag.

Her dreams consisted of animated spatulas, exactly like the brooms from that Disney movie Fantasia, flipping okonomiyaki and ingredients into the air in a pattern while Ranma, dressed in a red cat suit of all things, ran around the floor with his mouth open, catching all that he could. Akane, wearing a comical, oversized and baggy outfit of a shrine maiden, was conducting the whole thing with a stick of celery.

Just as the act finished, Ryoga strolled out from the right side of the stage clothed in a strip of bacon, followed by four wolves. Stopping in the middle of the stage, the wolves lined up next to Ryoga, two on either side. The music picked up again and the five on stage began a sweeping, dance-like kata; the wolves joining in on their hind legs. When Akane stopped waving her celery stick and Ranma stopped meowing at the act, Ryoga and the wolves bowed. A second later, the wolves descended upon Ryoga, tearing at the bacon he was wearing. Ukyo's dream-self, who was in the front row of the audience, yelled at them to leave him alone. They did as she wanted and fled the stage, leaving behind a rumpled black form on the multicoloured, light-covered floor. As Ukyo watched in morbid fascination, unable to tear her eyes away or move her paralysed body, the black lump, that turned out to be another wolf, stood up and stared at her before vanishing in a wisp of shadowy black smoke.

Ukyo shot awake with a gasp, her chest heaving as her lungs frantically tried to draw in much needed oxygen. _'Those eyes,'_ she thought, _'those golden eyes looked so wild and haunted!'_

Every time Ukyo closed her own eyes to go back to sleep, the image of the black wolf and his haunting golden gaze would flash before her, jerking her eyes open and almost making her scream with their frightening intensity. Despite the unease the gaze caused her, Ukyo couldn't help but feel that there was an underlying emotion lurking behind the golden eyes. Whatever it was, the teenage girl had no clue and was not about to think about a scary, wild dream-animal any more than she already had.

It took Ukyo a long time to drift back to sleep, this time without any dreams.

* * *

Soft rustling and tiny clicking noises were what awoke Ryoga. He had been a half-demon for roughly nine days now, but was still getting used to the increased senses. Ryoga had progressed to the point where he could tune out the birds part of the time. Opening his eyes, he saw some of the wolves moving about and guessed that the rustling was their fur and the clicking was their claws against the hard ground of the cave. He yawned, but was unwilling to stir properly.

Inuyasha, due to his childhood after his mother had passed away, was a naturally early riser. The sooner you awoke, the sooner you could scamper off before a demon trailed your scent to the place where you had spent the night. He was no longer afraid as he had been as a child, but the deeply ingrained habit of rising early still remained. It was therefore no surprise that Inuyasha gave the other half-demon a slightly gruff morning greeting.

Not really knowing how to act around the silver-haired male, Ryoga decided on something that should be neutral enough to incite conversation. "Morning. So, do you want me to ask the leader of the wolves about Naraku's whereabouts?"

Inuyasha stared at him, seeming to ponder something about him as opposed to his question. "Yeah," he answered after a few seconds.

The half-dog's amber gaze had intrigued him and Ryoga wanted to find out why. "Is there something on my face? You were looking at me a little funny," he said slowly, curiosity plain to hear in his voice.

"I'm just wondering why you, a complete stranger, is jumping headfirst into a battle that you have nothin' to do with," he replied honestly, staring hard at the black-haired teen. "It doesn't bother me that you're taggin' along anymore; you seem like a capable fighter. Just know that when we _do_ catch up to that bastard, Naraku, he's all mine. So stay outta my way in that fight, got it?"

Ryoga knew how it felt to have someone barge in on a fight that was considered personal, and was not about to cross about that line with his new companion. "That fight's all yours," he promised.

Inuyasha nodded and his expression lightened a bit.

Upon seeing the change, the strange thought that Inuyasha had been asserting his place in the pack shot through Ryoga's mind. _'Once I submitted to him, proving that I recognised him as the Alpha, he lost his threatening demeanour,' _he thought, his eyes widening as his brain properly processed the entirety of that thought and what it entailed. He groaned and turned onto his back with his limbs sprawled out as though contemplating whether or not air was huggable.

"What's wrong with you?" Inuyasha asked, confused by the half-demon's actions.

"Ugh," Ryoga grunted out. "Do canine instincts annoy you, too, or is it just me?"

"It is not just you, they affect Inuyasha as well," Miroku said, sitting up and observing the two half-demons. "For example, Kagome once tossed a stick and said 'Fetch!' to which Inuyasha automatically responded. It was one of the most amusing things I've ever seen."

With his face now burning red, Inuyasha levelled a death-glare at the monk that promised retribution. "Shut it, lecher!" he angrily growled out.

Ryoga hastily stifled his chuckles before Inuyasha could turn the death-glare in his direction. "Is there, uh, anything to help stop them?"

"No, there isn't," Inuyasha ground out through gritted teeth, still glaring daggers at Miroku.

"Are you serious?!"

The death-glare turn into a flat stare as Inuyasha regarded him like one would a disbelieving child.

"I'm never going to survive being a half wolf-demon and cursed to turn into a wolf!" Ryoga wailed, throwing his right arm over his face and closing his eyes. "It was bad enough when I used to turn into a piglet!"

Inuyasha's ears immediately perked up at this. "Your curse used to turn you into a pig?" he asked with interest.

Ryoga said nothing, busy cursing to himself in English, but nodded.

"That would explain why you smelled very faintly of pig the first day we met," he thought aloud, staring absently at the roof of the cave. "I just thought you must've wandered near a bunch of pigs or something."

Their conversation had not been very quiet and the others were starting to stir from their slumber. Many more wolves had awoken, but they kept to themselves, content to stare from time to time. Some yawning, shuffling and stretching later, the rest of the group was awake and already getting down to the task of breakfast.

Following Kagome and Sango's lead, the leaderwolf roused a dozen of the roughly twenty wolves, and took them outside the cave. Judging from the way the wolves organised themselves, they must have gone hunting.

"What'll we do if none of the wolves know where Naraku is? I'm not betting on them knowing, the possibility that they have such information is practically zero, otherwise Koga would be having more luck, don't you think?" Sango asked while they were munching on their light breakfast.

"You bring up a very valid point, Sango, but it will not hurt to ask," Miroku said.

Shippo swallowed his current mouthful. "Are we gonna wait for that old wolf to come back to ask him?"

"May as well just ask the wolves that are already here first," Sango said, her eyes flicking to rest on Ryoga for a split second before darting away to scan the remaining wolves.

"_Do you guys want to know where Naraku is?"_ Akiyuki piped up inquisitively.

Ryoga nodded, turning his attention to the wolf pup. "Yeah, does any of your pack know or have any idea where he might be?"

Akiyuki tilted her head to one side and stared at him for a couple of seconds before bounding away towards her pack.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that she just went to ask about Naraku for us, right?" Kagome said curiously, grinning when Ryoga gave her an affirmative answer. "Oh, she's such a cute and helpful little thing. I'm going to miss her when we leave."

"I'm not," Inuyasha muttered, though it was too soft for human ears to detect.

Shippo gave Inuyasha an unhappy stare that lasted so long it began to unnerve the half-demon. Kirara took her cue from Shippo, staring accusingly with her slitted eyes. Between the two of them, they made him turn away with a huff, unable to bear their silent reproach any longer.

Inuyasha thought that the half-wolf would side with the fox and the cat, but Ryoga said nothing, fully aware that Inuyasha disliked wolves and that his input would do nothing to help.

Akiyuki trotted back, her tail hanging down. _"I asked everyone that didn't go hunting, but nobody knows anything. I'm sorry. I tried, I really did!"_ she howled out sadly.

Taking himself by surprise, Ryoga reached out and drew the pup into a hug. He whispered reassurances to her, not quite sure what had come over him. He continued to cradle her as she whimpered into his chest.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Kagome crooned.

Miroku inched closer until he was sitting right beside Kagome. "Your friend from the future seems well suited to this place," he murmured in her ear. He received a nod in reply. His hand began to itch, so Miroku automatically moved to relieve it; by stroking Kagome's rear.

A loud, meaty smack echoed throughout the cave, catching the attention of every being within it.

"Pervert," Kagome acidly commented.

"Ranma…!" Ryoga growled out loudly. He let go of Akiyuki, whipped around, and jumped to his feet, poised menacingly above the monk.

"Uh, Ryoga, what are you doing?" Kagome asked, a little spooked by his sudden actions.

Her voice drilled through the red haze that had settled over Ryoga, bringing him up short. Looking around, he blushed as he realised what had happened. "Sorry, knee-jerk response whenever someone says 'pervert'," he sheepishly admitted.

"Okay…" Kagome said slowly, drawing the word out a bit.

"Can we go now?" Inuyasha asked rudely.

"There's no reason to stick around here any longer, is there?" Sango said, half answering Inuyasha and half asking the rest of the group.

Miroku shook his head and simply said, "No."

Now decided, Kagome turned to Akiyuki and gave the little female a bright smile. "We have to go now. It was really nice meeting you, and please tell your leader that we appreciate everything he's done."

Since breakfast was now over, the oddly assorted group stood up and left the cave; Ryoga giving Akiyuki a final scratch under the chin before following the others. The vicious storm had blown itself out sometime during the night and the dark, foreboding clouds had disappeared. A few patches of white floated in the sky and the only remnants of the storm were the flattened shrubbery and broken branches. Some of the smaller trees had blown completely over as well, exposing their roots.

Ignoring the destruction, the group set off, heading back for their original path. They had inadvertently climbed a bit of the mountain while running for shelter, and so had to make up for it now.

Just as they reached level ground around half an hour later, Inuyasha, Kirara and Ryoga all stopped and glanced behind them. Inuyasha gave the air a quick sniff before growling out a curse.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said, looking at him questioningly.

"It's that damn wolf pup!" he bit out in answer.

"Akiyuki?" Shippo asked a little hopefully. The little kitsune had greatly enjoyed having Akiyuki around. Not only was she fun to play with, but she made Shippo feel as though he were not the weakest in the group anymore. It was a selfish reason for wanting her around, but Shippo was tired of being the weakest link.

Ryoga crouched down with one knee resting on the ground and one arm lying on his knee. "Akiyuki, what are you doing?" he asked in slight exasperation.

The little wolf slunk out slowly from her hiding place. She crawled forward inch by inch, her ears pinned right back and her tail firmly tucked between her legs. _"I'm sorry, but I don't want you to leave! I know you won't stay, so I wanna go with you!"_ she whined.

"But what about your pack, they'll miss you! Did you even get permission to follow us?" Ryoga asked, trying to reason with her. _'If she comes, she'll be in danger and she has no way to fight against demons or even humans. I'll have to convince her to go back, but if she has permission, I don't know how persuasive I can be…'_

"_The leaderwolf said I could go with you on one condition: if we run across Prince Koga, I'm supposed to ask him if you can join the pack,"_ she admitted, staring hopefully up at the Lost Boy.

Ryoga smacked a hand to his head and groaned. Motioning for the young pup to stay where she was, Ryoga pulled the others into a huddle and relayed what had been said. Comments and arguments about it flew back and forth between the group. Akiyuki watched them worriedly, feverishly praying that they would accept her into their pack.

The leaderwolf had been against her leaving, saying she was much too young and could not even hunt yet. The pack had argued the matter briefly, just like the group was doing now, and had eventually decided that the half-wolf could teach her how to hunt and anything else that she had not learned from the pack yet. The final condition the leaderwolf had set was that she must convince Prince Koga to let the half-wolf join the pack if she met him.

Kagome pulled away from the huddle and knelt down in front of the pup. "I'm really sorry, Akiyuki, but you can't come with us. It's far too dangerous for you and we'll be too busy to defend you all the time if we run into trouble," the schoolgirl gently explained.

"_But…!"_

Kagome shook her head. It had been a unanimous decision. Kagome felt bad for the young wolf, but it was better for everyone if she remained on the mountain with her pack. "I'm sorry," she said again. "Bye."

The group turned and continued on their way, Kagome jogging for a few steps to catch up. None of them looked back; Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango because they didn't really care, Kagome, Shippo, Kirara and Ryoga because they knew that this was how things had to be.

Akiyuki lay down, her tailed curled around her and her ears back. She whined and howled at the rejection, a wolf's way of crying. She had thought for sure that Sister Kagome and Ryoga would convince the others to let her accompany them.

The companions walked in silence until Akiyuki's cries had faded into the distance.

They had travelled almost four miles, though Ryoga could still hear her clearly. _'I really have to buy a book on wolves or something, do some serious research so I know what to expect from my half-demon and cursed form,'_ he thought with a tinge of desperation. Not only would he need to be back in his own time to buy such a book, he would need to find one and make sure he had the money to acquire it. Not an easy task when you were the Eternally Lost Boy.

Another five miles had been traversed before Akiyuki's cries had finally faded from Ryoga's ears. He uttered a small sigh of relief, though quickly frowned when the sound of trees being demolished instantly invaded his furry ears instead. He was about to inform the others when the need to do so was rendered pointless.

A large rodent-like creature barrelled out of the trees to their right, smashing them aside like mere twigs. It was on all fours, being about twenty-three feet at its shoulder. Standing upright, the thing would easily be around thirty-five feet or more. It resembled a rat in basic anatomy, but there were four spikes jutting from the end of its long, whip-like tail and it had two bony ridges over its eyes that sported a row of small spikes each. The ears were not as round as a rat's, more similar to a horse than anything.

"A demon!" Miroku called out.

The rat-like demon turned its head to stare at the owner of the voice. Its round, red eyes burned with the primal desire for food, and the intense stare unnerved Miroku. The giant rat bared its incisors and took a step forward, a strange, high-pitched rumbling gurgle emanating from it. It let loose a sudden, horrible, ear-piercing screech and pounced.

Miroku was unable to dodge and stood there, staff held high in a defensive position. He hoped to hold back the rat's teeth, even if it was only for a second. A second was all his friends would need to counterattack.

The monk's defence was unnecessary as Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga and leapt for the monster's head. Swinging his father's fang, Inuyasha aimed for the creature's eyes. The sword hit the bony ridge above its left eye and glanced off, though it scored the rat from its forehead to the right side of its face, just above the neck, leaving a fairly deep gash.

The demon shrieked in agony, swinging its head from side to side in a futile effort to dispel the pain, sending large drops of blood flying to spatter the ground around it.

Smirking, Inuyasha tightened his grip on the sword's handle and leapt again, this time aiming for the demon's unprotected stomach. His sword eagerly cut into the demon's flesh, slicing the beast in half with ease.

Blood sprayed through the air, the metallic smell making Ryoga cover his nose and his tail twitch as the two halves of the body thudded to the ground. Ryoga watched in morbid fascination as the flesh of the two halves, wracked with death-spasms from the sudden shock to its system, turned to dust, leaving only the bones.

"Well that was a waste of time," Inuyasha commented with a sniff of disdain. Wiping his blade on the grass, he sheathed it when he deemed it free of blood. Turning his back on the cleaved skeleton, Inuyasha walked on, the others following wordlessly.

Ryoga shook his head at the apparent dismissal of such an event. _'Is this really such a frequent occurrence that they, especially Kagome, can simply shrug it off like it's nothing? If I continue to travel with these people, will I end up becoming as unaffected by such slaughter?' _he wondered with a shiver running down his spine. The casual air the battle had to it had frightened Ryoga.

Fighting against Ranma was almost as natural to Ryoga as breathing. He killed small animals such as rabbits and fish when he was wandering around in the wilderness. But no word he knew described the killing of the two demons he had seen so far as well as 'slaughter'. He had been the one to kill the first demon he had come across in the Feudal Era, slashed it into chunks with his own claws and unexplored demonic energy, and he wasn't sure he could do it again.

Sure, the giant rat had been about to eat Miroku, but that was no reason to slice the thing in half! It was only looking for food, the same as any animal. Wouldn't it have been kinder to teach it a lesson and simply knock the thing out so that it stayed away from humans?

Ryoga frowned, but decided to ponder the matter later. Sprinting a short distance, he easily caught up with the others and walked behind them in silence.

* * *

"Everything looks the same in this time period, all fields and trees!" Ukyo moaned aloud. She had been walking for a while and the similar, unchanging scenery, no matter its natural beauty, was beginning to grate on her. It reminded her way too much of the time she spent on the road when she had been abandoned by Genma Saotome. If she wanted to find Ryoga and do what Ranma wanted, then she had to go on even if it annoyed her.

Ukyo walked on anyway. She was not about to let her Ranchan down; she would make him proud of her!

* * *

A disgruntled expression directed at her did nothing to faze her. Akane determinedly ignored Ranma. The two teens were in Ukyo's restaurant back in Nerima, keeping their end of the bargain by working there in her absence.

"I could work here as a guy, y'know!" the busty redhead grumbled.

Akane continued her silent act, tuning the pseudo-girl out. "Hello, welcome to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki," she said enthusiastically to the man who had just walked in the door. "What can I get you?"

As the man placed his order, Ranma set about cooking it. He had already had an argument with Akane about who cooked. Ranma wasn't a chef, but his okonomiyakis weren't bad; nowhere near Ukyo's level, but good enough to pass.

"At least this isn't as bad as being a waitress for the Old Ghoul," Ranma muttered to herself.

* * *

The group had covered quite a fair distance and had set out reasonably early the next morning. They had been travelling a good portion of the day when, after cresting a hill, they saw a small village a short distance from the foot of it. Hoping that they would be able to stock up on supplies, the group set off for the cluster of buildings. It took several minutes to reach the edge of the village, but it only took a couple of seconds to realise that something was very wrong.

An aura seemed to shroud the village. Feelings of hopelessness and defeat permeated the air, the emotions making the atmosphere heavy and oppressive. To Ryoga, it felt as though a Perfect Shishi Hôkô-Dan was about to descend upon the village. Everyone felt uneasy and were on guard as they cautiously entered, unconsciously treading lightly.

"I can smell a bunch of men, a few women and the strong scent of lots of cheap sake," Inuyasha whispered to the others, indicating where with a quick nod.

"Bandits?" Sango whispered back.

Inuyasha gave an affirmative-sounding grunt. "If it's not the villagers having a celebration, then it's most likely a band that's taken over the village," he said quietly.

'_Now, bandits are something I can easily deal with,'_ Ryoga thought, feeling much more in his element. Thieves and the like often tried to mug him, none ever being successful. Demons were still a new level for him; bandits were old news. Booting a bunch of bandits out of a place they were looting was just the kind of stress relief Ryoga needed at the moment. He smiled grimly in anticipation.

"We should probably check first before we barge in on something," Kagome said.

Inuyasha flicked his ears back for a split second in annoyance. "Does it really matter? It's none of our business," he said carelessly. Catching sight of Kagome, and the bright red bonfire that seemed to surround her and highlight her furious glare, Inuyasha flicked his ears back again before mumbling that they should check things out.

The bonfire immediately disappeared and a smile replaced the glare on Kagome's face. The others simply sighed and shook their heads at the familiar scene, all except Ryoga. His mouth was hanging open as he realised how frighteningly similar Kagome behaved toward Inuyasha; exactly like Akane concerning the way she acted toward Ranma.

'_I'd hate to be the guy that got both of them mad at me at once!'_

Already in the lead, Inuyasha slowly moved towards the source of the voices, gesturing for the others to remain where they were. He kept fairly low with his ears pricked up as he made his way towards the centre of the village. Once he was close enough, he took a quick peek around the side of a hut.

There was around ten or fifteen women sitting off to one side of a clearing that was very like a small town square. Roughly the same number of men were on the other side opposite the women, most of them injured in some way. There were about twenty or so men in between the two groups. A few of them were guarding the men and many were watching over the women, though several were standing near a man that was sitting atop a pickling barrel in the middle of the clearing.

It was painfully obvious to Inuyasha exactly who was in charge. He felt a small stab of pity for the women and the fate that awaited them at the vulgar mens' hands, but squashed any sympathy. It was absolutely none of his concern and he needn't get his claws dirty by taking care of some filthy bandits that were not his problem in the first place. Snorting softly, Inuyasha turned away from the scene and quietly trotted back to the others.

Once he was back with them, the half dog-demon explained the situation bluntly in an uncaring tone.

"Oh no, those poor people!" Kagome exclaimed in a loud half-whisper.

"Don't you dare go all sappy for 'em, Kagome! We're busy with something much more important or have you forgotten?" Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome turned a furious stare onto Inuyasha, making him involuntarily flinch back slightly. Without saying a word, Kagome balled her hands into fists and strode past him, heading for the bandits and villagers with her head held high and raw determination burning in her eyes.

Ryoga looked at Inuyasha, then the others, and finally at Kagome's rapidly disappearing form. "Um… Should we go after her?"

"I believe Kagome is capable of looking after herself," Miroku said assuredly, closing his eyes and adopting a calm, wise and dignified demeanour.

Sango stared at the monk, scandalised by the disregard for their friend that his words conveyed.

"Of course," Miroku suddenly continued, "there is quite a large number of armed men awaiting her. And Kagome _is _rather attractive…" he finished, letting his words hang in the air.

Inuyasha gave a low, throaty growl, baring his fangs at the purple-robed monk. "So? If anything happens to the stupid wench, then it'll be her own fault for pokin' her nose into business where it'll get cut off!"

"Poor child," he went on, ignoring Inuyasha. "Such a young, delicate flower, about to have her petals cruelly torn off…"

Each word spoken by the monk made Inuyasha's hackles rise further until he snarled and dashed forward, extending his arm and catching Miroku in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Whirling around, the silver-haired half-demon leapt onto the nearest building and started hopping from roof to roof, heading the same way Kagome had gone.

Sango took a few steps forward before stopping to regard the fallen monk. "You'd have my sympathy, but, personally, I think you deserved that. There's a limit to how far Inuyasha can be pushed, and that limit is very short when it concerns Kagome. I would've thought that, after all this time, you would have learned when to stop." Having said her piece, Sango ran off after the half-demon and the young priestess.

Kirara and Shippo raced after the demon slayer. Not quite sure what to do, Ryoga went over to Miroku and offered him a hand, pulling the monk to his feet.

Trying to retain as much dignity as he could, Miroku dusted himself off and followed the others at a brisk pace. Mentally shrugging, Ryoga jogged after him to avoid becoming lost.

Once the two males reached the clearing, they instantly had to take cover as half a dozen arrows whizzed towards them. Ryoga peeked around the side of a hut he was ducking behind - the same one Inuyasha had hidden behind - but had to instantly pull back as an arrow angrily hissed by, missing him by a few centimetres.

Sango crawled up beside them and gestured for them to stay where they were. All three of them grit their teeth as an obnoxious voice rang out.

"If you've come to play hero and rescue the girl, think again! We've got you pinned down and your half-mutt buddy is so full of arrows he looks more like a porcupine! Just go home and leave the girl with us, I promise she'll be treated like a queen," the male voice shouted out mockingly.

Shippo and Kirara came up from behind Sango. Kirara had her hackles raised and was hissing quietly, flexing her claws. Shippo looked dejected as he came close enough to be heard by all three.

"He's telling the truth. Inuyasha's lying on the ground full of arrows and Kagome's being held by a couple of men near the boss; her bow and arrows are being held by another guy halfway across the clearing!" Shippo wailed softly, praying to his father to make everything okay.

"Surrender and we'll let you live to serve us!" the voice called out.

'_How dare he?!'_ Ryoga mentally raged, making a jerky movement to stand. He roughly bumped into another pickling barrel that was standing in the shade the hut provided, tipping it over. He could only watch, frozen, as the contents spilled all over him, the watery juices triggering his curse.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, what do you think? It took a while (as usual) but I got it done.

Enormous thanks to **UpperClassK9** for being a kick-ass beta!!!

I found out, by watching anime trailers on various volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist, that Akiyuki is a real Japanese name. And, as you saw, Akiyuki is not going with the group. _Or is she?_ Bwahaha!!! -cough- Sorry.

Yes, Ryoga can use the Shishi Hôkô-Dan as a wolf. He still has his ki, so it makes sense. He has also discovered the wonderful world of canine instincts; stronger and more numerous than those of a piglet. Apparently more annoying as well.

As for Ukyo's beyond weird dream… Yes, it does mean something. I'd tell you, but that would spoil it. -evil grin-

Le gasp! Kagome's been captured and Inuyasha's…

Please review and tell me your thoughts!

~Fantomo


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